


Deer Godess

by Nana_san



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, F/M, goddess_tzu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2020-06-09 15:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 40
Words: 44,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19478863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nana_san/pseuds/Nana_san
Summary: When a major event happens, seeing your daughter write her prayers as letters to her Deer Goddess is cute, and it's nice to see the kid not losing hope. Things get a little less cute when said Goddess shows up at your doorstep saying it's nice to have prayers again and decides to live with you, tending to your child's every whim.





	1. 1

Waking up to a crash and tearful giggles were part of the Park family’s routine, Jihyo and Jaebum could never stop worrying, but the house was completely child safe, despite everything looking ridiculous with the purple corner protections in every single piece of edged furniture they owned. But their love for their little girl surpassed any desire for fashion they could ever have, and it wasn’t like their friends didn’t know about their dangerously clumsy, but immensely kind hearted little Sana.

The house wasn’t that big or flashy anyways, they lived a simple and happy life, Jihyo was a nurse, she managed her shifts well and never failed to make time to be with her little angel. Jaebum was an engineer, he worked on a car plant, despite his family and upbringing. Im Jaebum was the eldest son of CEO Im, owner of one of the biggest import companies in the country, he was cast out and disowned when he said he was marrying Jihyo.

Mr Im had a wedding planned for his son, a big merge that would expand their business, when he found out his plans weren’t quite going as he wanted, the man made quick work of disowning his eldest son and proceeding to put his daughter up for his plans. The real reason Jaebum did what he did was something he would never tell, although he did love Jihyo with everything he had, both knew their relationship wasn’t going to be the easiest one to make last.

Jihyo was on her mandatory internship when she met Jaebum, he was rushed in with a nasty cut on his forearm, something about a gory accident when they were building their final project and some soldering gone very wrong. Jihyo was the one responsible for him after the surgery, and she couldn’t resist passing up her number to the very bold, and very heavily drugged young man trying his best and failing miserably at being seductive. 

Everything grew from there, and they were nearing their first anniversary when Jihyo found out who Jaebum really was, not that his family would change anything for her. To her, Jaebum was the lovable and careless man she had fallen for, he had a small apartment and drove a cheap, beat down car, and she loved everything the man was without the persona he had to put up for the high society. She met Nayeon one afternoon she showed up at his apartment without telling him, and things got a bit heated, that was when the woman blurted out everything, calling her a gold digger and other things Jihyo locked away with much difficulty.

After taking every offense thrown at her, she simply told Jaebum to come by whenever, and only if he felt like talking and left. Nayeon was fuming, trying to make her brother understand he was being scammed, and that’s when, for the first time in their lives, Jaebum lost his temper and screamed at his sister. He was enraged and made sure his sister knew Jihyo had no idea who he really was until that very moment, she never cared about anything like that, and they were both very happy with each other. Suffice to say, Nayeon wasn’t convinced at all, and Jaebum was shunned from his family that very evening.

They got married that year, not long after the incident, nothing big, just Jihyo’s close family, nobody from Jaebum’s side except for the one friend that had stayed by his side, Youngjae, a stand up guy, they had met on their college orientation day and worked on an unbreakable friendship since then, both men trusted each other with their lives, and Jihyo would always be grateful that someone was there for her husband when she couldn’t. Their beginning was rough, they were two kids that didn’t know what to do, scraping by day-by-day, but they were happy, and they would make it.

Little Sana was a very pleasant and welcome surprise, they had just bought their first house, it was small but it was theirs, they had been married for a couple of years, and any time would be a perfect time for Jaebum, he got so excited when Jihyo told him about her, he hit his head on the kitchen doorway and was out for the next hour. Youngjae was the one Jihyo called to help getting her husband on the couch, he was happy too, but made sure to snap a few strategic photos of his friend, for science.

Jihyo, despite being outgoing and very lovable, also didn’t have many friends, she had one, to be more precise. Momo was great, a lovable character and kind soul who just needs the right push at the right moments, and Jihyo was always willing to be the one to give that little nudge, they went through their darkest years together, and the happiest too. When Chaeyoung appeared in Momo’s life, Jihyo was the one to yell at her friend to get off her ass and not let the small woman go.

Chaeyoung, she was a storm that the best friends would love to get their lives destroyed by, she met Momo at one of the college’s dance studios one particularly stressful night on their second year, caused by a very bad teacher that believed he had the perfect method to get his students to learn biochemistry, just because everyone killed themselves to pass the subject and never see his face again. Chaeyoung was a photography major, who also had a passion for dancing, and happened upon the studio Momo was dancing at, and couldn’t bring herself to leave, much less stop watching that beautiful woman she just found.

The couple had been together since then, having gotten engaged three months after their first meeting, Chaeyoung said she knew she had to marry Momo and there was no point waiting. It worked wonders for them, especially when the nurses got overwhelmed with the ‘hands-on’ part of their course and, at least Momo, had the ‘I’m engaged’ way out of annoyingly flirtatious patients, sometimes doctors as well. What they didn’t know, however, was how dangerous jealous Chaeyoung was, and the wedding was the best way to tame the small beast, rushed after she had broken the nose of a doctor she saw coming on to her fiancé that one time she went to pick up Momo earlier.

Jaebum, in turn, came by a few years later, and the couple was just as supportive as jihyo had been for them. Momo was the one who talked to the young man and got him to ask for the pretty nurse’s number, making sure Jihyo wouldn’t bail on their dates or be stubborn when she was obviously in the wrong. Chaeyoung was always there to help where she could, but she was just happy someone had, finally, come by to give her best friend a proper chance at love. Both did a background check on Jaebum before he could even leave the hospital, and liked what they found, agreeing to give him that little push towards their friend.

When the Im fallout happened, Momo and Chaeyoung were the first ones to step up and try to offer any and every kind of help they could, it may or may not have caused a little clash with Youngjae, who was also very willing to help his friends out. They worked it out in the end, but still, their competitive nature was hard to repress. Jaebum decided they would be Parks, despite Jihyo’s reservations, he didn’t want anything to tie her and their future children to his parents, saying the blood in their veins was enough, and Park was a better last name anyways, nothing was said about it anymore and they married Park Jaebum and Park Jihyo not long after.


	2. 2

Things were great, but money had always been tight, they had some to spare, but preferred to save up for emergencies, and then little Sana showed up, Jihyo was already pushing it with her shifts, and Jaebum decided to take more extra hours, they would need as much as they could save for their little girl to grow up well, and both were fine with doing all they could, even if it meant a little less time together. And their friends were there every step of the way, from Chaeyoung taking into her own hands to build the nursery, to Momo monitoring both Jihyo and Jaebum to make sure they were healthy and not over exerting themselves, to Youngjae taking Jihyo to her appointments when Jaebum couldn’t make it, and video-chatting his best friend throughout the entire thing.

They were happy, and they were making it work, well, until Nayeon decided to show up again, maybe for the sake of it? Jihyo wouldn’t know, and she wouldn’t ask her husband, seeing how distressed he was after the encounter. The woman showed up on a saturday, Jihyo was having a shift that afternoon, and Jaebum was helping Youngjae with his car at the front, when a very expensive car parked in front of the house and a face none of the men wanted to see came out of it.

“Jae, heads up.” Jaebum whispered to his friend only.

“What?” Came in an equally hushed tone.

“The devil’s spawn showed herself again.” He hisses, but clenches his jaw and squares his shoulders to face his sister.

“You know, it was very difficult to find you.” Is the first thing Nayeon says to him.

“That was the plan, but looks like I have to try harder.” He spits back. “What are you doing here? As I understood, we are nothing for a couple of years already.”

“You really let go, huh?” She chuckles humorlessly.

“Just say whatever you want to say and leave, Jihyo will come home any time now and I don’t want her to see you ever again.” Jaebum’s voice is cold, and he sees Youngjae looking relaxed but ready beside him.

“What do you want me to say? I was immature and spoiled back then, it doesn’t remove what I did anyways.” Nayeon tries to negotiate.

“Look, I really don’t want to keep looking at you. Just say what you came here to say and leave.”

“Fine, dad is dying and he wants to see you.”

“I don’t know why you bothered to come here for, but that man is no father of mine, he made sure of it. Now go and never come here again, I don’t want you anywhere near my life, and I don’t plan on getting near yours as well.”

“You know mom will send their men for you and she will come herself if she needs to, she will do anything father asks her to.”

“And I’m sure you will do your best to convince them not to, because I have nothing to do with them, I do not owe any of them this favor and refuse to give them the satisfaction of having me come to them for this whatever last redemption bullshit they are trying to pull.”

“Jaebum, please, I-”

“You don’t get to say my name so casually as well. Just go. I’m Park Jaebum now, and very proud of it. Im Jaebum died the night you decided my wife wasn’t good enough to be in your lives and threw me out so easily.”

Nayeon just huffs, resigned, she knew it was a long shot, especially after he changed his last name like that. As a kid, Jaebum would always be very happy talking about his future wife, how Im would be a great last name, and how her name would fit it, no matter what it would be because it fit everything. She knew how much her brother loved his family and, after all these years, she saw just how much that one fit she had as a teen had killed the man that raised her.

The woman entered the car and drove home without another word to Jaebum, who she saw wasn’t the loving brother she grew up with, the boy who, despite not being that much older, tried his best to raise her and do what their parents never cared for. It was him who would wake her up, make sure she had everything she needed for school, went to all her plays, taught her how to write and read, attended every event of her life, even if it meant he would spend the night awake to make up for the time he spent with her.

She made sure to not let anyone know about this visit, asked Dahyun to hire a private investigator, as nobody would think her wife was looking for people she never met, and made sure no one but herself and said investigator knew who she was looking for. She bound detective Kwon by an iron clad non disclosure and rented a car to go to the house, she knew her car had a GPS tracker and knew this was a long shot, but still didn’t want to bring problems to her brother, whatever the outcome. 

Nayeon managed to return the rental, but broke down as soon as she entered her own car, parked at her office garage the entire time, she didn’t want any suspicious activities in her log, and decided to take a cab downtown for her rental. But she couldn’t bring herself to get back to work that day, and Dahyun couldn’t know what she had been doing, her wife was the best, but couldn’t let things go easily. The chances that Dahyun would move heavens and earth to find out and solve the problem were too high, and Jaebum deserved his peace, he deserved to be left alone with his new life, the life she forced upon him herself.

It took a while, but Nayeon managed to get a hold of herself and called her assistant, telling him to cancel her appointments for the day, and telling him to take the rest of the day off himself. Bambam was a nice man, very hard working, but also her father’s lackey, she knew she shouldn’t leave him with her office, so she said Dahyun hadn’t been feeling well since the night before and she decided to drag her wife to the hospital, which was true, but they had gone the previous night, not that he needed to know this. Bambam just asked to be called if she needed anything and Nayeon waited to see him leave the building before she headed home. All the carefulnes was never too careful with mr Im.


	3. 3

“Are you ever telling me what you were up to today?” Dahyun asked when they had settled down for the evening.

Nayeon got home a few hours before, looking absolutely devastated but unwilling to talk about it, so, as the great wife she was, Dahyun had distracted her with a nice dinner and the new episode of that bad drama the older woman liked so much. Now that they were laying down, waiting for sleep to come and basking in each other’s presence, she knew it was alright to ask.

“Only if you promise me you will let it rest as it is.” Nayeon asks, her tone grave enough to show she wasn’t negotiating.

“But if it got you looking like that, of course I’ll want to do something about it.”

“And I love you for that, but this time I need you to promise me you won’t do anything. All of this is my fault and I need you to just stand back and don’t interfere.”

“Okay, I promise.”

“No matter what happens, you can’t move a finger about this.” The urgency in Nayeon’s voice made it clear thi wasn’t something she would say unless Dahyun was completely honest about not interfering.

“I promise I’m not going to do anything about whatever made you look like that.” She agreed, looking at her wife expectantly.

“Just a second.” Nayeon gets out of bed, pulling out a box-like device from her suitcase and turning it on. “Precautions.” She simply explains.

Both women knew that Bambam was after Nayeon’s position, and may as well have wired her entire life, the boy managed to gain mr Im’s favor before the man fell sick, but that event threw a wrench to his plans when Nayeon took over and only kept him around because it was more dangerous to let him go. The older one took a deep breath, steadying herself and choosing her words carefully, upsetting her wife was never something she wanted, especially during pregnancy.

“Alright, are you talking now?” Dahyun cued.

“I went to see my brother.” She said simply, and waited for the information to sink in.

“Go on.”

“Father isn’t that well, and he said something about seeing his children one last time before he passes, I don’t really know. I was more of a dying, entitled man’s mumbling, but I’m sure mother also understood what he said.”

“And that’s bad because?”

“Well, did I ever tell you how I became the heir, despite being the second child and a woman?”

“No, but I’m guessing I won’t like it very much. BUT! You already started talking, so out with it.” Dahyun demanded, sitting up on their bed to look at her wife properly.

“You see, my brother was never really fond of father’s ways, so he took the first opportunity he had to escape and went away. He had applied to college on the other side of the country and made sure to not take a single cent from our family as soon as he set foot out the door.”

“That’s a good man right there. Still, I feel that’s not all, and I’m about to get mad at you.”

“Could you stop reading me and just let me talk? Thanks. So, I was kind of pissed at him for leaving me behind. I was a naive and spoiled teenager at the time, all that was going through my mind was that the one person who was supposed to be there with me all the time went away.” Nayeon took a breath, willing herself to continue. “So I sought him out, sure our parents had given up on him and were just waiting for his graduation to force him into marrying you and binding the companies.”

“Oh, so this was the fiancé I was told about back then. That explains a lot, really. I was told my fiancé was much older man but a nice person, then you came along and I was confused on how two years was supposed to be ‘much older’..... And the man part as well.” 

“Yeah, it was my fault, really. My own pride and selfishness guiding me to do it.”

“Will you just say it and stop stalling?”

“So, I went to see him, it had been two years since he last set foot in the house and much longer than that since we properly talked, just the two of us. So, when I was at his house, his wife showed up. They were just dating at the time.” Nayeon adds quickly. “She showed up and my selfishness told me she was the one stealing him away from me, so I called her every insult under the sun, I said she was just after our money, and that a nobody like her would never be allowed to be with my brother.”

“Okay, you just earned yourself a week on the couch, but keep talking.”

“She just took it, she took everything, swallowed her tears and gave my brother a broken smile, said she would wait for him to come to her and left. That was the moment I got a hold of myself and saw what I had done, but my stupid rich girl pride didn’t let me back down, so I just threw one last insult to her as she was leaving.”

“That’s a great woman right there. I may be inclined to go ask them if they are interested in a three way relationship.”

“As much as I would love for them to be cared for by someone as amazing as you, there is much more, so hold up.”

“And here I hoped you were done.”

“Not even close. So, once she was gone, my brother told me she didn’t know where he came from until that very afternoon when I screamed it at her face. He also said he was disappointed that the girl he raised became just another spoiled rich brat, and I was to never set foot in his house again.” Another deep breath. “Then I stormed out and went directly to father, I told him a gold digger was after my brother and he wasn’t seeing it.”

“Okay, you were kind of a bitch.”

“Father called him in that very evening.” Nayeon continued not minding the interjections. “Said he should just leave the woman as there was already a wedding waiting for him. Jae said he would never leave her, and was better off leaving us instead, so father granted his wish and disowned him the next day. We never heard of him ever since, and now that man wants him to go back for some sick redemption fantasy of his.”

“Oh, is that why I never heard a word about another Im until today?”

“That would be it. Father made sure nobody mentioned Jae after that, and, to the public eye, the Ims never really had a son. He disappeared not long after that, I couldn’t find anything about him and I had no idea who the woman was, I only learned her name today, even.”

“And why look for him now? It’s been years, why go through the trouble?”

“Because mother heard father talking about ‘seeing his son’, and I’m sure she would try and find Jae if that man asks for it. And Bambam would make sure my brother wasn’t a threat whatsoever, regardless of the consequences. I already tried to ruin his life one time, I’m never forgiving myself if I do nothing to prevent it this time.”

“And how is ‘you going to see him’ preventing it?”

“Because now he knows we can find him. If I could with just one investigator, father can easily do it with his men, and Bambam much easier with his domesticated hounds. He knows we can find him and he is going to disappear again, hiding his tracks better this time around.”

“I’m curious, when, how and what changed from the spoiled kid to the Nayeon who is desperate to save her brother?”

“He was gone, and I was forced to face everything he had been shielding me from. Father made sure to throw everything that was on Jae’s shoulders at me without mercy, I saw the ugly truth to our family and how much that man had put up with just so I could grow up happy, he gave me the best he could in his powerlessness. That slap of reality showed me what I’d done, and how much I tried to take from him that day.”

“I imagine things went from your perfect little golden bubble to the ugliness of big corporations fast.” It wasn’t a question.

“He gave me all his life, and now I’m going to make sure he can live his. If it takes going there and seeing the dead eyes that used to look at me filled with love and hear him tell me he never wants to see me again, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

“I’m glad you grew up, even if it took you the only person that loved you your entire life. But hey, I’m here now and we are working on it.”

“Yeah, you are here now. And I really want to be a good wife to you, and an even better mother to our little Mina.”

“Good, now you can pick up your pillow and go, I want to sleep.”

“What?”

“You thought I was joking about you earning yourself a week on the couch?” Dahyun raises an eyebrow. “And don’t even think about the guestroom, I will know.” 

Nayeon just gives in to her fate and moves to the living room. Dahyun just lay back and rummages everything she was just told. Things were worse than she thought, and she had to move, otherwise, Nayeon may be brotherless. She knew things were being set in motion for Jaebum’s demise, but she won’t just sit back and let it happen.


	4. 4

Jihyo was too pregnant to keep working, but they needed the money and she wasn’t even doing that much anymore, just tending to the nurse station and doing some boring administrative work that nobody really liked doing. Momo had been too worried and never failed to drop by and check on her, sending Jaebum updates every time she did. 

The phone rings, and Jihyo is very grateful to have something to take her out of her boredom. It’s dr Lee, asking for a box of gloves, saying he was sure he had restocked them, but still ran out. Simple enough work, so Jihyo didn’t wait for another nurse to show up, much less when dr Lee was tending to a VVIP patient, and it was never really good to let that kind of person wait, not if it could mean a handsome contribution to the hospital, and Jihyo knew how much the maternity ward needed one of those.

Dr Lee was the head of obstetrics, and had been struggling to keep their budget since the day he was appointed for the job. He was a nice man, wise beyond his years, but still very young at heart, despite the graying hair and slumping shoulders. So Jihyo took it upon herself to help out, and it was just the one box of gloves, sure Momo wouldn’t scream at her for carrying not even half a kilo of gloves for a few meters.

“Come in.” Dr Lee calls after a knock on the door.

“Dr, you asked for a refill?” Jihyo asked, poking her head into the door.

“Ah, nurse Park, thank you. But I’m still sure you shouldn’t even be working right now.”

“It’s alright dr, and I’m not straining myself with anything, nurse Son makes sure I’m station bound.”

“That’s great to hear.”

“When are you due?” A new voice brings them out of their playful banter.

“Too soon, if you ask me.” Dr Lee answers with a sigh.

“In about a month. And I apologise for disrupting your consultation, I’ll take my leave now, mrs.”

“Kim. And you weren’t really disrupting anything, it’s fun to see dr Lee not being serious for once.”

“Well, mrs Kim, if you will take the advice from a nurse that’s been working with him for years.”

“Please, I know that nurses are the real mvps in hospitals. I’ll take their advice anytime.” The pale woman chuckles.

“Don’t let the frown fool you, dr Lee is a secret softie. But he does takes his patients well being very seriously, so be sure to do as he says.” Jihyo pretends to whisper.

“Is this ‘do as I say not as I do’?” The dr asks. “Because I remember telling you to stop working two weeks ago.”

“Oh, I just got called back to the station.” Jihyo fakes shamelessly, looking at her very much not blinking pager. “I should go, just call if you need something else dr. It was a pleasure mrs Kim.”

Then Jihyo leaves, she did get advised to stop working, but they couldn’t afford it, and Jaebum had been pushing himself too far already, every hour she could put in counted and she was sure to keep them up until she couldn’t anymore. Back in the office, dr Lee proceeded with the ultrasound, but he couldn’t keep his curiosity at bay.

“Forgive me for asking, bu-” The dr began.

“Why did I give her my maiden name?” Dahyun chuckled. “Let’s just say it was better that she didn’t know my married name, but thank you for calling her over and not saying anything.”

“Oh, I’m sorry about that.” He bows apologetically. “Well, let’s get back to little Mina, shall we?!”

Jihyo got to the nurse station to a very angry and very cute looking Momo, who was crossing her arms in front of her chest and puffing her cheeks. The shorter woman couldn’t resist but kiss those cheeks, before sitting back down on her chair and look up to her friend, waiting for her to talk. Which the taller one did, after pouting for a little longer, not that anyone who knew Momo would ever have the heart to tell her to stop.

“You were not at the station.” 

“Very well observed, nurse Son.”

“Don’t be smart with me, Hyo. where were you, and why were you not following explicit orders to not push yourself.”

“Dr Lee needed more gloves, and he was having that VVIP appointment, you know how those people could decide on donations on a whim, so I didn’t want them to keep waiting until someone else showed up.”

“I’m going to let it slide because it was close by and it was just gloves. But don’t let me catch you being smart again, we won’t hesitate to keep your pregnant ass home if we need to.”

“Okay, I promise, but you know we need my hours, Jaebum has been losing even more weight lately, and he is looking worse.”

“I know, but you know Chae, Youngjae and I won’t hesitate to help you out with anything you guys might need.”

“I know, but let us try. We want to give Sana the best we can offer her.”

“Alright, but do speak up when you need it.” 

Momo kisses her head and skips off, unknown to them, two people were watching them, one was very impressed by how that woman was hell bent on doing everything for her unborn child, he thought his mother was the strongest woman he met, but that nurse was putting up a fight. The other saw the woman for who she was, someone who loved deeply and would let nothing stand in her way for giving everything she had for her loved ones, but she also got worried about something she heard, but that was something she had to handle with care.


	5. 5

“Come on, Jackson, we should get going. I have something for you already.” Dahyun says simply.

“This way mrs Im.” They proceed to the elevator.

Both were very silent on their way down, knowing they weren’t in the clear to talk about certain things, old man Im had his filth spread everywhere.

“I want ice cream, could we go get some?” Dahyun asks, loud and clear once they are inside the car.

“When you said you had something, I thought you meant, finally, giving me some papers, instead of having me run around for another one of your cravings.” He answers, making it believable for their tails.

“Oh no.” Dahyun gasps, keeping the playfulness, but having understood her message went through. “What will I do if Mina is born looking like ice cream?”

“I’m going to pin that on your pregnancy, but you aren’t even making sense anymore. Let’s go get that ice cream before you start thinking more weird nonsense.”

They laugh, and Jackson starts the car, both keep making light conversation about menial things until they reach their destination. Dahyun and Jackson go way back to their teenage years, she found him about to die in an alley and did everything for the scrawny boy to survive, then took him in like her own son, despite being younger. Jackson told her about his life, as an orphaned and helpless young man, Dahyun took him in, called in the right favors and had him officially registered as her son. She made sure he was brought up to be the best man she could make out of him.

Now, he was a, although a little short, well built and immensely skilled man, who would do anything and everything for her, the only man she trusted with her life. They went to one of their safehouses, the front, an ice cream shop, but, as soon as they entered, the ‘owner’ offered them a special table and they were out of sight for the ones trying to follow them. Dahyun led the way through the back corridor, pressing her hand against a specific point on the wooden panels and opening a door to their safe room, not forgetting to leave bags, coats and phones outside.

“So, are you telling me what you found out and what I’m supposed to do, or are you really just eating ice cream?” He asks, amused.

“I’m telling you, but you could have let me enjoy some ice cream first.” The woman rebutts.

“I know you love the ice cream here and all, but we are taking, like, a bucket home, just tell me before we are here too long to be believable.”

“I forgot about them. Right, so, you saw the nurse, right?” She receives a nod and continues. “She is married to Nayeon’s brother, the one we made sure to bury any traces of months ago?”

“Wait, that was THE Park Jihyo I’ve been hearing so much about?”

“That would be her, beautiful, isn’t she?” Both chuckle at that. “As you heard yourself, Jaebum is pushing himself to exhaustion, and she is working until her water breaks because things aren’t all that well for them.”

“Who do you want me to make a raise happen for?”

“I want you to get Jaebum promoted. Make it believable, buy the plant if you have to, but I want them to have a little more room to breathe. You heard how tired she sounded herself in the office.”

“Will do. But why did you decide to check on them now? Even changing your doctor to check on her.”

“Because Nayeon can’t, and I want to help them. I know it might be just the ‘help my wife’s brother’ thing, but you know as well as I do they are hard working people, never looked back on the fortune Jaebum was supposed to have, and held their heads up, regardless of what life threw at them.”

“I was the one who found them and made sure they wouldn’t be found by the others, remember?! I spent months seeing them struggle before I found out they were having a child.”

“Exactly, and now I’m doing what I can to help. I know it’s not the same as sharing my full fortune, or Nayeon’s for that matter, but they can use the extra cash, and I want my niece to be born in a household that isn’t scraping by to raise her.”

“Consider it done, but I can’t do it overnight, just be patient and let me do my thing.”

“Always am. Now let’s go, we’ve been here enough.”

“I do have a question, though.”

“Shoot.”

“Why are the filth still trailing us? Old man Im died months ago.”

“His wife got paranoid and put that idiot kid on our tails, thinking I’ll convince Nayeon to cut her off once Mina is born.”

“If only she knew… But I’m already working on that kid, it shouldn’t last that long, and I promise to be done before Minnie is born.”

He kisses the baby belly and saunters out of the room, retrieving his phone, wallet and coat, before getting Dahyun’s. They go back to the front, where their ice cream to go is already waiting for them and go on their way. Both making sure to be just flashy enough for their scouts to see them and keep their ‘monitoring’, honestly, the desperation of old lady Im and that Bambam brat was starting to get to Dahyun’s nerves.


	6. 6

It was a little over a month from the time they met that Dahyun got news of her niece being born, not that she could tell it to her wife, the person who would be the happiest to know about it. No, the information came through Jackson, hearing it from one of his boys placed to make sure Jaebum’s family was safe and sound. Nayeon had opened up that one night, but morning came and she was back to normal, well, her normal. Meaning, she was back to acting as if nothing happened and she didn’t have a brother who was missed dearly.

Understandable, given the situation, but the pale woman wished her wife would open up more, even if it meant hushed conversations with a signal jammer in the middle of the night. At least it would be something. Still, keeping secret tabs on the Parks was better than not knowing anything at all, and Dahyun will settle for that until the time comes and she can’t keep distant anymore.

Jihyo gave birth to a lovely, chubby and smiley little girl, Jaebum soldiered through the labour like a champ, even after Jihyo had broken his fingers. He was so thrilled that the real pain of having his left hand rendered useless only came after everything was said and done. Momo and Chaeyoung arrived as soon as they could, but still managed to get there before their niece (yes, they claimed themselves the cool aunts, sue them) was born, Youngjae didn’t get to leave his work early, so he would be there when he got there, Jaebum was happy that his friend could take the time to call, he knew how hard it was for the other man to take time off.

Sana came into the world after long and tiring hours, that neither one of her parents would change anything about. Jaebum got a few more days off, he couldn’t really do much with his broken hand anyways, and his boss claimed he never laughed so much in his life, until the man himself got his right hand broken by his second born a few years later, so the time off was well deserved. Sure enough, his work mates also had the time of their lives poking fun at him for having his hand broken by his wife during labor. Youngjae did his best not to mock his friend, but couldn’t hold it for too long. None of the girls understood, but were just told it was a guy thing and let it go.

Things were that much livilier for the Parks after that, and Momo and Chaeyoung had to be thrown out of the house from time to time because they refused to be away from little Sana. On another part of society, little Mina came around a few weeks after Sana, on a quiet afternoon, and Dahyun didn’t struggle much, certainly didn’t break Nayeon’s hand when welcoming their little girl to the world. Jackson was also in the room, he may or may not have threatened the medical team, but let’s not get stuck on details. He demanded to see his little sister being born, and nobody managed to get him out, not that either Nayeon or Dahyun were complaining or anything.

Nayeon knew how much her wife meant to the young man, she was his saviour, and he was the most loyal son anybody could have asked for. She had witnessed how good of a man Dahyun had made out of him and how endless his kindness was, obviously, she loved him as her own after a while, and was more than thrilled to have him in the room with them, Mina was as much a part of his life as she was theirs, and he was as much their son as they were his mothers. Sure, it took a little innergrowth from the older woman, and a lot of personal struggle, but things fell into place just fine.

Mina was almost enough to make Dahyun forget she was supposed to keep tabs on a certain mother-in-law and an annoying brat, almost. About a month after Mina was born, Jackson came home looking troubled, unsurprisingly, Nayeon was the first one to notice, and made sure to take Mina and spend some time at the garden, enjoying the cloudy weather and giving her wife and son time to talk things out. Jackson loved both his parents very much, but his connection with Dahyun went beyond her own with the boy, and Nayeon understood that they needed to talk things out without her around from time to time, and it was perfectly alright.

Dahyun would tell her about it later, and Jackson would talk to her as well, once he sorted himself out, that was one of the hardest things for her to overcome, thinking she was being left out in the beginning, but, one day, she walked in on the young man breaking down in violent sobs in her wife’s arms, and she understood that there were times he didn’t want to show his weak side to her, and both needed their moments alone. Now she just wishes he would be well enough by the end of their conversation to talk to her too, sometimes Jackson would just lock himself in his room for days, not even bothering to eat, and she worried a lot during those times.

“What’s eating you up like that?” Dahyun asked, as soon as Jackson enters her room.

“Can I talk to you, mom?” He answers, taking out his own jammer.

“Sure, come sit with me and tell me all about it.” Dahyun got the message, he never called her ‘mom’ if things weren’t very serious.

Jackson made sure the door was locked and his jammer was working well before speaking up. Sure, the supposed scouts were playing checkers outside their van and not paying any mind to the surveillance they were supposed to be doing (he had just checked on them), but all caution in the world wasn’t enough. It was also a good thing they were distracted, as they didn’t notice the disruption on their signal.

“Alright, we are secure, talk to me.” Dahyun cues, as soon as they are done with precautions.

“The old lady and that brat are moving suspiciously. I think they might be planning something and I don’t want anything to happen without me allowing it to happen.”

“Now that’s the opposite of what I wanted to hear, and I’m not standing aside and allowing anything to happen outside our grasp.”

“I think it’s time to take that kid out, that old woman won’t be able to do much else with him gone, and we both know she is careless enough to put herself in trouble once her only support is gone.” His voice grows angrier at each word.

“Well, time to take him out, then. Just tell me when I’m needed, I’m ready.” Dahyun agrees. “Just promise me you will be safe.”

“Everyone will be safe, mom. Just trust me and let me do what I have to do.”

“If you can come home to me safely, I have nothing to complain about.”

Dahyun gives Jackson a kiss on his forehead and the young man took his leave. It was hard keeping Nayeon and, most importantly, little Mina out of the Kim family business completely, but both had been doing an excellent job so far, and fully intended to keep it up, plausible deniability and all. Not that the Kims were involved in illegal activities, well, not officially and not that anyone could prove anything, but when one gets to a certain level of power, some creative solutions were needed.


	7. 7

“Mina, honey, please cooperate.” Nayeon begs, trying to put her daughter on her carseat.

“Dunwanna!” The child keeps complaining.

“Minnie, be nice for mommy.” Dahyun commands as she enters the driver’s seat. “We are going to take you to auntie Chaengie and you are going to have fun there for a few hours.”

“But I don’t wanna be away from mommies.” Mina pouts, and her mothers chuckle.

“I know, honey, but mommies have to take care of a few things and we can’t just leave you alone.” The older one explains.

“I can stay with Jackie Jackie.” 

“Jackson is going to help us, sweetie, so be a good girl for mommies and obey auntie Chaengie.” Dahyun says, still soothing, but much more firm now.

Mina just huffs a little and starts looking out the window, she falls asleep soon after, they hadn’t even made it out of their neighborhood yet. Nayeon smiles when she turns around to see why the little girl was so quiet, and takes the opportunity to talk to her wife a little.

“You know, it still amazes me how you managed to meet Chaeyoung and become such great friends.”

“Oh, Chaengie is a genius, she went to the same school as me on a full scholarship, and we happened to be in the same class.”

“And how come you never hired her?” Nayeon wonders. “I mean, if she really is a genius, she must be a great option for hiring.”

“She is on the artistic side, not really a fan of corporations. I don’t think she would be happy with an office job where she can’t express herself, and I can’t live with knowing she isn’t happy because she is doing her best to do what I asked of her.” Dahyun answers with a fond smile.

“You really do love her, huh?!” Nayeon mirrors the smile. “It’s good to have someone like that in our lives.”

“You just haven’t spent that much time with her, it’s hard not to love that midget.” 

“Not like you can talk much about midgets.” The older one barks out in laughter.

“Glad to know you are enjoying yourself. But seriously, it’s hard to not like Chae, and Momo is right up there with her on the likable scale.”

“Momo? You never said anything about a Momo.” 

“Don’t worry that pretty little head of yours. Momo is Chaeng’s wife, they got married merely months after they met, but both were certain of each other and it worked out great for them.”

“Now, THAT is a rare thing to happen.” The taller woman sighs. “But why haven’t I heard of Momo before?”

“Because she isn’t home that much, whenever I go visit, and she can rarely come along whenever we meet.” The pale woman says, a little saddened.

“Oh, is she-”

“No, no, nothing like that. Momo is a nurse, she is on the trauma team, so she is almost always on call. It works well with Chaeyoung’s crazy hours, but most times I get to visit she is working, and when we go out, she can’t really come along, since she could get called in at any moment.”

“Ah, that must suck. I would think she can’t even go drinking, being on call.”

“Momo loves her job, I doubt she even considers her restrictions as, well, restrictions.” Dahyun laughs. “She is great, one of the loveliest people I ever met, and, hear and behold, she is home today.”

“Oh, so I get to meet, not only the legendary Son Chaeyoung but also her lovely wife?” Nayeon muses.

“She is Hirai Chaeyoung now, but yeah, you get to know them both.”

They make light conversation for the rest of the ride, and arrive at a very familiar neighborhood to Nayeon, she had been there not long before, and didn’t really leave with the best memories. Nonetheless, they make their way to the simple house, and a homey feeling seeps into the couple as they take their little girl to be cared for while they attend the funeral. They knew neither could really manage to get themselves out of the ‘proper’ procedures required by the society, old lady Im, as a lady of high status, would do anything in her power to have them there.

At least, they could get little Mina out of it, and by the gods, will Nayeon keep her girl out of all that high society, nose up in the air, stick up their asses hyenas that would be more than happy to throw their kids on her little girl just so they could have a shot at their fortune. None of them was really there because that damned brat was anyone important, Dahyun, Jackson and herself were there for appearances, and to throw old lady Im out of their scent, not that Nayeon would ever know of that part.

Honestly, taking Bambam out of the picture took longer than anyone had wanted, but he did become useless right after his ‘accident’, a truck ran a red light and sent his car flying, he had been in an induced coma for a little over a year, before having a ‘heart attack’ and passing away during the night. Old lady Im had, predictably, spared no resources on his medical care, and Dahyun and Jackson took the opportunity to have Nayeon slide into the board and win over the directors while her mother was ‘too busy’ watching over trash.

Nayeon had thought the accident was unfortunate, but Dahyun had stepped in on one of the board meetings and suggested it was time for her to take her place, as old lady Im wasn’t up to the task anymore. 

The woman fit in better than anyone could expect, and, soon enough, the board had decided that Nayeon was guiding the company to a better future than her parents could ever have imagined, and she was placed as head of the board, despite her own protests that director Choi should be the one to have the position as she didn’t have enough experience yet. Dahyun was beyond relieved, she didn’t really need to do much to get her wife where she deserved, and the board was already in the palm of Nayeon’s hands merely weeks after she was put to the test.


	8. 8

“Auntie Chaengie!” 

“Minnie! You grew up so much!” 

Mina seems to have forgotten about not wanting to be there as soon as the front door opens and a small, slightly drowning in her clothes woman opens it, smiling wide at the sight of her oldest friend and her family. Chaeyoung loved wearing Momo’s clothes when she was lazing around at home, and that day had been scheduled just for that ever since Dahyun had called and asked them to take care of their little girl. They had an old friendship, and, despite not having talked for a while, their bond with each other never wavered, and if Dahyun needed help, Chaeyoung would never deny her that.

“I’m surprised she remembers you.” Dahyun remarks as she gets closer. “It’s been, what? Seven months?”

“Around that, and she remembers me because I’m an awesome auntie and she loves me.” Chaeyoung huffs and tickles Mina. “Right Minnie?”

“Auntie Chaengie, let’s play!” 

“In a minute, I have to talk to your mommies first, okay? Why don’t you go inside and say hi to auntie Momo?”

The girl nods and runs off into the house once she is put down. The friends laugh, and Nayeon shakes her head, smiling fondly. Mina was incredible, despite having met Momo only once or twice before, she sure liked her auntie a lot. The eldest woman approaches, after her wife and friend are done with their weird greeting, waiting a little to see if she will be introduced or should introduce herself.

“Hey, Nayeon, right? I’m Hirai Chaeyoung, it’s great to finally meet you.”

“Im Nayeon. It’s good to be able to put a face to the name.”

“Alright, now let’s get in so I can eat those cookies I know Momo baked.” Dahyun stops their imminent conversation.

Momo is a great baker, and, indeed, there were about four platters filled to the brim with cookies waiting for them, with warm coffee that flooded the house with the delicious smell. Dahyun, very much like her daughter must have done, by the looks of the entrance, just threw her shoes wherever, running towards the kitchen (well, what she calls running, anyhow), where a comforting voice seemed to be scolding Mina for choking on her cookies.

“Don’t think too much.” Chaeyoung offers, seeing the look of disbelief on the older woman’s face.

“It’s just-.” The older woman chokes out in surprise.

“You’ve never seen Hyun like that.” The small one laughs, putting the discarded shoes in place. “It’s alright, I’ve never seen business woman Im Dahyun as well. There are always new sides of her for us to discover.”

Nayeon almost slips into a contemplative daze when Mina comes back running, calling her and auntie Chaengie over to eat cookies. They just chuckle when the girl bites her tongue in her animated rambling about the treats, but refuses to stop eating the four cookies she is holding at the same time. The photographer just laughs aloud and urges the little girl back to the kitchen, leaving Nayeon to gather herself a little before joining them.

“Oh, great, you came!” Dahyun greets when she sees her wife appear by the door.

“She couldn’t just stand at the entrance the entire time, could she?” Momo chastices.

“Hello, Im Nayeon. It’s nice to finally meet you.” The eldest smiles warmly and offers a handshake that gets immediately ignored when she is crushed in one of the warmest hugs she ever got.

“Just remember to let the woman breathe, Mo.” Chaeyoung calls, not really worried, but she thought she had to say something.

“It’s alright, and she is a big girl, she can take a big hug.” Momo tries to scold. “Although, there could be some more meat on those bones, you sit down and eat, I’m making you some hot chocolate.”

“Just do as she says, nobody can win against Momo.” Dahyun tells her wife, patting the chair right beside her.

“How?” Is all the eldest asks, still sitting down.

“She gives you the puppy eyes. You don’t want the puppy eyes.” The pale one offers with a nonchalant shrug and goes back to eating.

“You are still not eating?” Said woman is back. “You don’t like cookies?” And there Nayeon regretted every single wrongdoing in her life. She understood, then, why she shouldn’t want the puppy eyes.

Momo didn’t relent, though, the puppy eyes intensified and Im Nayeon could tear her own heart out and hand it to that woman right then and there if she was asked to. The nurse was beautiful, anyone could see that, her features were soft and implied a bit of childishness, but her eyes conveyed a wise and confident person, although she wasn’t the tallest, Momo had a toned and clearly well trained body the years in the profession got her to the best of her optimal shape and she moved with a care, gentleness and precision only years of practice could imprint on someone.

They end up spending longer than they should eating and being surveyed by Momo, who wasn’t about to allow anyone to get up from her dining table before all the platters were cleared out, not that anyone was complaining, she was a heavenly baker. Nayeon did need the time out, and that breakfast was something her soul craved for and she never knew. The eldest could understand her wife’s fondness for the couple, and how she was best friends with Chaeyoung, while Momo was nurturing and stern, the youngest was playful and accommodating, indeed a perfect match.

By the time the Im couple headed out, little Mina was already begging to sleep over so she could play with her aunties, and Nayeon was surprised that Dahyun was right about leaving their girl with the Hirais, despite the very loud and persistent tantrum the kid had thrown earlier that morning. At least, they could head out to be done with those stupid formalities that their positions demanded and just leave when Nayeon’s tantrum happened, because it certainly would, given old lady Im was there and most of their company’s directors would be attending the first day as well.


	9. 9

Much like everyone expected, Bambam’s funeral service was just another big business event, Dahyun and Nayeon weren’t short on choices of fiancès for Mina, they chose none of them, and Jackson even left with a handful of young ladies being thrown at him by eager old men, whose greed knew no limits. They were all very tired after it finished, and Nayeon opted to just head home with their son first, getting started with dinner, while Dahyun went to get Mina, everyone knew she would take a while playing around with Chaeyoung anyways.

As always, the Hirais’ home was welcoming as soon as the pale woman laid her eyes on it, the little house, at that humble neighborhood, offered a homey feeling that settled on the Im family any time they would visit it, today Nayeon had understood that, and this was likely the reason why Mina had been so enthusiastic to stay this morning. Getting to the door, Dahyun could hear loud conversation inside, and a male voice was present, could it be?!

Surprisingly, the owner of the male voice was the one answering the door, and Dahyun was almost frozen in place when her eyes landed on the man before her. Jaebum was there, ushering her inside, he was, indeed, a very handsome man, she could see a lot of similarities he shared with her wife, but they didn’t look much alike for untrained eyes. She went on automatic until she was about to enter the living room and the man bumped her by mistake, bringing her out of her stupor.

“Oh, Hyun! Come and sit down, Momo and Jihyo are finishing dinner, and Mina really wants to eat with Sana.” Chaeyoung calls from the couch, seeing her friend had arrived.

“Sure.” She moves a little into the room, before turning to Jaebum. “I forgot to introduce myself, I’m Kim Dahyun.”

“Park Jaebum, it’s a pleasure to, finally, meet you. The dwarf talks about you a lot, her ‘hotshot friend who is a big business woman and got boring’, if I remember right.” He mocks while catching the pillow thrown at him.

“I got boring? How dare you!” 

“It’s not like that, you see-” Chaeyoung tries to defend herself.

“It’s exactly like that, don’t try to get out of it.” Jihyo stops her. “Park Jihyo, nice meeting you.”

“Kim Dahyun, nice meeting you too.” Using her maiden name was a safety measure, as she knows Im is not very common in the big business side of this town.

“I came to say dinner is ready, are you eating with us?” Jihyo asks.

“I would love to, but my wife is already making dinner at home, so I can’t really not eat there.” Dahyun offers an apologetic look. “Well, not if I want to keep sleeping on my bed for the rest of the month, that is.”

They all chuckle at that, Jihyo, then, excuses herself to go and help Momo feed the girls, while the other three remain in the living room, making small talk. Dahyun finds that Jaebum is charming, even more than she was led to believe by what Nayeon had told her. She also learns that Jihyo is also a great woman, and the man she was to marry loved his wife with all his heart, honey fell every time he talked about her, and she learned Chaeyoung (along with Momo) also loved the couple and their daughter very much.

Not much longer after, Mina comes running, holding hands with another girl, she figured it should be Sana. Dahyun greets the girl, squeals a little at how adorable and well mannered she is, receiving the hug and sloppy kiss on her cheek happily, before telling Mina they should go home because mommy and JackJack were waiting for her. They negotiate a little and Mina is convinced to leave after assuring another visit where she could spend the night. Dahyun makes sure to hug everyone and that Mina says her goodbyes before leaving, noticing the slight bump on Jihyo’s belly, smiling to herself at her new niece or nephew that were coming.

On the way home, Dahyun listens with a warm smile while Mina tells her about the very fun day she had, and how Sana was so great and fun and she was going to marry her when they grow up. She thinks it wouldn’t be a bad idea, Sana was her cousin, sure, but she really didn’t see any problems, but that was something for later, right now, she just wanted to get home, put her daughter to bed, have dinner with her family and talk to Nayeon about the surprise encounter she just had, but loved anyways. Sure Mina had eaten her dinner, but desert was something else, so they just eat while she has some fruit salad and tells everyone about her day.

After dinner, Jackson offers to be the one to put his little sister to sleep, and the girl launches herself on him as soon as he says it. They laugh, and Dahyun deals with the dishes, telling her wife to just go and take her shower and get ready to sleep, she will handle things at the kitchen and join her in bed soon, and they would talk then. And so they do, soon enough, Dahyun is entering their room, showered and wearing those yellow checkered pants Nayeon has been trying to get her to stop wearing ever since they were bought.

“No jammer?” Nayeon asks, seeing her wife just getting cosy and not worrying much.

“No need, I had the house cleaned out while we were out today. And I had better jammers installed, they will be constantly on and impossible to find, nothing to worry about anymore.” Dahyun answers and pulls the other towards her so she can begins cuddling.

“So, how was it at Chaeyoung’s?”

“You have to promise you won’t freak out.”

“Okay…. I know there was another kid, Sana? And that Mina had a lot of fun, from what I could understand earlier.”

“So, Sana is her cousin.” Dahyun tightens the grip on Nayeon’s waist a little more, waiting for the information to sink in.

“What?”

“Jihyo and Jaebum were there when I arrived. Seems like he went by with Sana while Jihyo was at work and they just stayed for the rest of the day, since Mina was there and Sana took an immediate liking to her.”

“You saw him?” Nayeon gasps, trying to hold the tears back.

“We talked a little, while Jihyo and Momo fed the girls. I must say, the more I talked to him, the more I thought it could have worked, had our marriage gone through. Not that I don’t love you and Mina, you know I do with all my heart, but he is such a good man.”

“I know what you mean, trust me, nothing to apologise for.” The older woman is sobbing now, and small hiccups are starting. “He is great, always has been. I’m glad he is alright, though.”

“I would say more than alright, they are having another kid.”

Nayeon laughs, a wet and lighthearted laugh that conveys happiness and sorrow all at the same time. Dahyun understands, and just lets her break down a little before they continue talking. The relationship between the Im siblings was something extremely fragile, something that was barely there at all, and, despite being her wife’s fault, it was something Dahyun had set to repair, maybe not immediately, maybe she wouldn’t even manage to accomplish, but she would damn well try her hardest.

“So, how are they?” Nayeon manages to ask, after managing to calm herself down.

“They look great, happy. Jihyo looked tired, but she is a nurse and was coming home from work, so I’m guessing it’s normal. Jaebum looked great, you too are very alike, you know?”

“He raised me, and we were made at the same place, there should be something alike.” The taller one chuckles.

“Yeah, but they are things that someone who doesn’t know both of you would miss.” The younger laughs a little. “They are both great people, you know, and the way he talks about Jihyo, you can feel the love he has for that woman. Little Sana is adorable as well, she is very polite and very affectionate, I got a hug and a kiss when I said I was Mina’s mommy.”

“She sounds adorable.” There is a tinge of longing on Nayeon’s voice.

“She looks so much like them both, she has Jihyo’s big, honest and loving eyes, and Jaebum’s eye smile. And Mina likes her a lot, I had to promise her a sleep over at auntie Changie and aunt Momo’s house with Sana for her to agree to come with me.”

“That sounds like a tough deal. Did they seem to link you to me?”

“I don’t think so, Momo and Chae gave me some questioning looks when I introduced myself as Kim, but said nothing, Jaebum and Jihyo didn’t seem to have caught on to anything, though.”

“As much as I felt a little sting on my heart hearing that, it was probably for the best that you used Kim.”

“I will receive a call from a very inquisitive Chaeyoung tomorrow, but it went alright. I’m sorry you got sad, though.”

Nayeon just shakes her head and snuggles closer to her wife. They could only settle for what they got and hope the day Nayeon could reach out to her brother and show him how much she regrets everything she did, and beg for a chance to make it up to him and his wife, for a chance to have them back in her life again, this time, the right way.


	10. 10

Ever heard that good things happen to good people? Well, somebody lied to you. It happened too fast, too soon, and nobody could have guessed things would turn out like this. And, most certainly, no one wanted any of this to happen. Still, here they are, a broken father, a scared daughter, a bloodied and regretful best friend, all hearing the rushed steps towards them, none willing to lift their heads and tell the two approaching figures what happened, nor wanting to believe it did.

The day started as any other, the Parks woke up, Jaebum made them breakfast while Jihyo got Sana ready for school, they ate, said their goodbyes and went on their ways. Momo picked up Jihyo, giving Sana a hug before the girl left for school with her father, they went through their chores, Jihyo was, once again, forbidden from anything that would put a strain in her body, so she was manning the nurse station, which was becoming one of her least favorite things to do.

Then everything changed, in the blink of an eye, and Momo will forever swear it was the worst day of her life, even worse than that time Chaeyoung fell from the second floor and broke seven bones, while trying to ‘get the perfect angle’. Jihyo, who felt a little off since she woke up, felt a sudden sharp pain in her stomach, like a hot knife was slashing through her abdomen, the scream she let out before passing out on the floor was something that would haunt everyone who heard it for days. Momo was there, busy filling her reports, and she went on autopilot as soon as she saw her best friend hit the floor.

The  _ Code Red _ team arrived in record time, Momo was trying to access the situation, but nothing seemed to be a problem at first, Jihyo had stood up, screamed and passed out, that was, until blood started to pool around her hips, then, the japanese woman knew exactly what was happening, and there was nothing she could do by herself, except hold her best friend close, and wait for the emergency team to arrive and tell them what happened, and to hurry up, before it’s too late.

As they were known to be sisters from different mothers, Momo was denied access to the room they had Jihyo on, she was dismissed indefinitely, as soon as HR heard what happened, Jaebum was called, he excused himself from work and went to pick up Sana, he wanted her to know everything that was happening to her mother. Momo managed to ask one of their colleagues to call Chaeyong, and told them to ask her wife to call Youngjae as well, the peach herself was incapable of much else.

The following hours went by in a blurr, if you asked any of them what had happened, an answer couldn’t be provided, their walloing was broken when a nurse came out of the O.R. and Momo was the one to stand up and speak first. The others didn’t seem to process someone had come out of the room as fast as she did, maybe the years coming in and out of those had made her more attentive to these things, or maybe she was the one most traumatised so far, having seen everything happen right in front of her and being unable to do anything.

“Just say it, Chungha.” Momo demanded, seeing the slight hesitation on her colleague.

“She will pull through, we couldn’t save the baby, and Jihyo lost a lot of blood, so we are keeping her asleep for now. No visitors allowed yet, and we are moving her to the ICU, but she is stable and there is nothing to worry about this far.” The woman lays it on them just like Momo asked.

“Alright, when is she being transferred?” The older nurse asks.

“In an hour or so, we are still preparing the room for her and she needs to be cleaned up too, you know the process.” The junior shrugs. “Now, I’ll go back in and follow everything closely.”

“Thanks, Chu. I’ll try and have them eat something.” Momo hugs her and turns back to everyone once Chungha is back in the operation room.

“Should we be worried?” Youngjae asks weekly.

“Yes and no. No because Chungha said she is stable already, the ICU is standard and she should be monitored for a day or two before being moved to an apartment. And yes, we lost the baby, and she will take it as hard, if not harder than Jaebum is.”

They all approach the man, silently crying and hugging his daughter, he had heard everything clearly, but couldn’t bring himself to do anything other than let himself break a little, knowing they had just lost their little boy, Park Jinyoung would never come to be, and he knew Jihyo would be the one to blame herself completely, despite being nobody’s fault to begin with. Little Sana was crying too, she didn’t understand everything that was happening, but her father was crying and she knew her mother was sick, so she cried too.

Youngjae took the kid, and Momo and Chaeyoung dragged Jaebum to the restaurant, they needed to make him eat something and Sana must be hungry too, as they all were. It may be a bit rough to do that as soon as they learned their baby boy was gone, but it has been over five hours since they arrived, and it was Momo’s orders, she knew how to keep them well and healthy, despite blaming herself at the moment. It sure was very hard to make the man eat something, Sana had fallen asleep on Youngjae’s arms as soon as he finished feeding her, and they were waiting for Jaebum to finish, they knew he was stalling and wouldn’t eat at all if left alone.


	11. 11

“WHAT?!”

“Shh, mom is in Minnie’s room, you want her to come in and ask about our conversation?” 

“Sorry. But you just sprung it on me without warning.”

“Ma, I told you ‘Things are bad, really bad. We need to talk.’ HOW was it not a warning?”

“Sonson, you know mommy Hyunnie doesn’t think things are really bad until she is slapped in the face with how bad they are.”

“That is….. Very true, and explains a lot as well.” Jackson ponders a little. “Not the time for this, though.”

Both hear a sound from outside but relax when Nayeon heads further down the hall, towards the stairs. Jackson’s room was the last one down the hallway, just beside Mina’s, their mother’s was on the other side, for obvious reasons. This time Dahyun had gone after her son when she saw him enter the house looking like he kicked Ray and the dog started limping after. Surely something was wrong, and Nayeon pushed her wife to their son as soon as he walked passed them.

“Goddess, I hope they pull through. This is just really sad.”

“Aunt Jihyo is in the ICU, but I was told it’s standard procedure, so we’ll have to wait and see. Also, I was told Momo was the one with her when it happened, she was thrown out of the operation room but stood right by the door the entire time, bloody scrubs and all.”

“How I wish we could just go and be with them through it.”

“Isn’t it time to stop this nonsense, though? I mean, It’s been years already.”

“Not so simple, kiddo.” Dahyun laughs bitterly. “Your mom screwed up really bad, and I know the wounds she caused are still very much open. I do think it’s time to start working on it, though.”

“But it is. It’s very simple, mom goes over, begs for forgiveness and takes everything they throw at her, because she knows she deserves it. When they are done with the bottled up stuff, she starts working to make herself worthy of them.”

“You know, maybe it’s time you two talk about that.” The woman gives a lighthearted chuckle. “Don’t worry too much, just tell her I put you up to watching her brother’s family and start there. She might be a womanchild but she listens well.”

“You might be right. Not tonight, though, I think we both need some time to take in the news and I sure am not in the right mind to tell mom about this yet.”

“Fair enough. Go take a shower and come down to eat with us? Minnie has been asking for you all day.”

“Will do, ma.”

Dahyun places a kiss on her son’s forehead and leaves, the news that her nephew was gone twisting her gut in sharp and relentless knots, she could only hope they would be allowed in and Nayeon would be given the chance to make up for her mistakes, that one chance she has been wishing for all these years. But tonight, she will sit on that table, eat the lasagna her wife and daughter made for them and try to not make the mood sour, Jackson was already going to be a bit of a handful.

Morning came faster than anyone hoped, and the pale woman had a very hard time not answering her wife’s questions about their son. She couldn’t complain, the older woman was worried about their little boy, sure Jackson was a man, but Nayeon will always look at him as the scrawny teenager that followed Dahyun around everywhere back when they met. By the end of breakfast, the younger woman declared she was the one driving Mina to kindergarten and that the other two had much to discuss and left.

“So, coffee by the pool?” Jackson suggests, knowing his mom loved the drink and wanting to be in the sun for a bit, it always cheered all of them up.

“Sure thing, I’ll make the coffee and you deal with these dishes.” Nayeon agrees, gesturing to the breakfast table.


	12. 12

“Are you telling me now, or do you want to stall a bit more?” Nayeon asks, after both are settled on the lounge chairs by the pool, their favorite place to talk with each other.

“I need you to promise me you won’t freak out and will stay here and talk to me through the end.” He asks, the most serious he had ever been.

“I’ll try not to freak out, but I do promise to not leave until we are done with talking.” 

“Thanks, mom. First off, I’ve been keeping tabs on Jaebum since you went after him before old man Im passed.” He stops and gives the woman some time to process the information.

“I forget that keeping an eye on people is part or our world.” Nayeon takes a deep breath. “Please continue, I’m sure it gets bad.”

“They are a great family, you know. Aunt Jihyo is an outstanding woman, and little Sana is adorable. Uncle Jaebum is the best man I’ve ever seen in my life, and they all take life face on, their love for each other just gets stronger and stronger.”

“It’s good to hear.” A fond smile plays on a sorrowful face.

“Aunt Jihyo was pregnant with their second child.” Again, Jackson stops to allow the information to get processed.

“ _ Was  _ pregnant? What happened?”

“She had a misscarriage. It happened yesterday and there was nothing that could have seemingly caused it, I’ll get more info later, once she leaves the ICU.” He releases a shaky breath before continuing. “The boy didn’t make it.”

“So, my nephew never came to be?!”

“I think it’s time, mom.” He gets a confused look. “You’ve been avoiding it long enough, and they need family. It’s you go over there and talk to your brother.”

“You must know what I did, Jackson. I can’t just waltz back into their lives-”

“And you won’t. You will wait until I get word that aunt Jihyo is out of danger, and go over there, beg your brother for a chance, take whatever they want to throw at you and make good by them.”

“You know, talking like that you are too much like Dahyun.” Nayeon chuckles bitterly. “I understand what you are saying, bu-”

“There is no arguing here, you are doing it and I’m going to make sure you do it. They need help, mom, they are barely scraping by, and aunt Jihyo just had a miscarriage, they barely had enough to get by, and now they will have to squeeze out more money to pay for her recovery treatment.” Jackson takes a calming breath. “I know the hospital has a great insurance for their employees, but they will still charge for a lot, and aunt Jihyo should be properly cared for.”

“If I say I’ll go over and try will you promise to not teach Mina to be as scary as you?”

“Absolutely! Ma was the one who taught me this anyways, I’m sure she is raising Minnie just the same. But I’m still waiting on a progress report, just think over what you really need to do when the time comes, I’ll take you there when the time comes.”

“I promise. Thanks JackJack.”

Nayeon side-hugs her son, kissing his head and leaning on him to enjoy the rest of their coffees. Sure, she was torn apart last time she saw her brother, but she also knew she deserved every single thing. And Jackson was right, she has been putting it off long enough, last time was just an excuse, a half-hearted attempt at reaching out again. And if her brother was in need, she was damn well going to step up and do what she needed to do, maybe this time she would actually get somewhere.

Now they just had to wait until things got better, and then reach out to those who deserved the world, Nayeon had been praying for a chance, one single chance to show how much she regretted who she was, and that she was set on chasing that one chance with everything she had. The woman knew the first thing she should do was talk to her wife, and ready herself for when the call came to proceed.

What everyone couldn’t foresee was, that one chance of reconciliation would be provided by their very own little girls.


	13. 13

“I’ll be home all day today. Momo is going to the hospital later, though.”

“ _ I know this is last minute, but, can Mina stay with you today?” _

“Of course she can, Dubs. Just bring her over whenever.”

“ _ Thanks Chae, I owe you one.” _

“Not just one, but let’s not keep tabs. I’ll be waiting.”

“ _ Alright, see you soon.” _

Dahyun ends the call before the younger woman has the chance to say anything else, she sounded a little frantic, but Chaeyoung was used to this side of her friend, the pale one would always be rushing whenever she had to make last minute decisions, and this was definitely one of those times. Usually, Im Dahyun would plan everything in advance and always stick to the plan almost perfectly, whatever made her not stick to schedule were always unpredictable circumstances, like accidents that slowed traffic, some weather event, this kind of thing.

The woman wasn’t a planning freak, mind you, she just managed herself too well, and was able to pull off whatever she had committed herself to doing. Chaeyoung, on the other hand, was the ‘let life happen’ kind of person, sure, she had a few schedules, mostly work related, but she would never be too worried about adhering to them to the last minute. If things didn’t turn out like she thought they would, that was alright too. Maybe a trait that had to be developed in her line of work, celebrities never failed to be unpredictable and taking pictures of them would turn out to be very stressful if she was the type to complain about schedules not happening.

“Who was it?” Momo comes in, holding a sleepy Sana.

“Dubs was asking if we could look after Minnie today. I said it was fine.”

“I agree. And it should be good for Sana to have someone to play with and take her mind out of things a little.” The taller woman comes by to give her wife a kiss, after settling the child to sleep on the sofa.

They proceed to arrange things a little, Sana was staying at their place until Jihyo was okay enough. She had been moved from ICU to an apartment two days before, and Momo got the inside info that she would be allowed to go home in another three or four days. Jaebum got two weeks off work, mostly because he had enough extra hours that couldn’t be pai, so he kind of had to take time off, but more because his boss was very fond of the young couple and knew how much of a blow the events had been for both. 

Momo, Chaeyoung and Youngjae would take turns in making Jaebum go home, shower and sleep properly, while also taking care of Sana. Both the girl’s parents were too shaken, even though they had been trying to put on a brave face for her, but the kid still saw how they were very very sad. Sure, Jaebum was trying his best to be strong for his girls, and Jihyo was putting her best effort whenever her little girl was around, but both were broken and it showed. Sana had talked to her aunties and uncle about knowing her mama and papa were sad, and she wanted them to be better.

Youngjae had simply cried a little and hugged the girl close, Momo told Sana things would be alright soon and went on a Sailor Moon marathon with the girl. Chaeyoung was, by far, the best in this, when she asked how the girl was feeling, the little one said she was sad that she wouldn’t be an unnie, but she could wait a little longer, but she wanted mommy and daddy to not be so sad anymore. The cub talked to Sana about how her parents needed to be sad for a while, but they would be okay soon, and how the girl should call her when she thought mommy and daddy were too sad so she could go and give them hugs to help them feel better, and also taught the girl how to use the landline and that she should hug her parents and give them kisses a lot too.

It wasn’t that long after the call when Dahyun rang the doorbell, passing Chaeyoung sleepy Mina and her little backpack, promising to be back as soon as she could and having her best friend dismiss her, saying they were taking Mina and never giving her back. And that they were taking care of Sana, so Dahyun didn’t have to rush, the little girl could sleep over too and keep the older one some company, which didn’t sound too bad on the pale one’s opinion.

A quick call to Nayeon and the decision Mina would have an impromptu sleep-over was made, both her mothers were to work really late and Jackson was off doing whatever Jackson does, plus, it would be good for the cousins to get acquainted with each other. They would, over the years, but nobody knew that so far, and the Im siblings were still not talking, hell, Jaebum didn’t want to see his sister at all, especially given the current circumstances.


	14. 14

“I’ll be home all day today. Momo is going to the hospital later, though.”

“ _ I know this is last minute, but, can Mina stay with you today?” _

“Of course she can, Dubs. Just bring her over whenever.”

“ _ Thanks Chae, I owe you one.” _

“Not just one, but let’s not keep tabs. I’ll be waiting.”

“ _ Alright, see you soon.” _

Dahyun ends the call before the younger woman has the chance to say anything else, she sounded a little frantic, but Chaeyoung was used to this side of her friend, the pale one would always be rushing whenever she had to make last minute decisions, and this was definitely one of those times. Usually, Im Dahyun would plan everything in advance and always stick to the plan almost perfectly, whatever made her not stick to schedule were always unpredictable circumstances, like accidents that slowed traffic, some weather event, this kind of thing.

The woman wasn’t a planning freak, mind you, she just managed herself too well, and was able to pull off whatever she had committed herself to doing. Chaeyoung, on the other hand, was the ‘let life happen’ kind of person, sure, she had a few schedules, mostly work related, but she would never be too worried about adhering to them to the last minute. If things didn’t turn out like she thought they would, that was alright too. Maybe a trait that had to be developed in her line of work, celebrities never failed to be unpredictable and taking pictures of them would turn out to be very stressful if she was the type to complain about schedules not happening.

“Who was it?” Momo comes in, holding a sleepy Sana.

“Dubs was asking if we could look after Minnie today. I said it was fine.”

“I agree. And it should be good for Sana to have someone to play with and take her mind out of things a little.” The taller woman comes by to give her wife a kiss, after settling the child to sleep on the sofa.

They proceed to arrange things a little, Sana was staying at their place until Jihyo was okay enough. She had been moved from ICU to an apartment two days before, and Momo got the inside info that she would be allowed to go home in another three or four days. Jaebum got two weeks off work, mostly because he had enough extra hours that couldn’t be pai, so he kind of had to take time off, but more because his boss was very fond of the young couple and knew how much of a blow the events had been for both. 

Momo, Chaeyoung and Youngjae would take turns in making Jaebum go home, shower and sleep properly, while also taking care of Sana. Both the girl’s parents were too shaken, even though they had been trying to put on a brave face for her, but the kid still saw how they were very very sad. Sure, Jaebum was trying his best to be strong for his girls, and Jihyo was putting her best effort whenever her little girl was around, but both were broken and it showed. Sana had talked to her aunties and uncle about knowing her mama and papa were sad, and she wanted them to be better.

Youngjae had simply cried a little and hugged the girl close, Momo told Sana things would be alright soon and went on a Sailor Moon marathon with the girl. Chaeyoung was, by far, the best in this, when she asked how the girl was feeling, the little one said she was sad that she wouldn’t be an unnie, but she could wait a little longer, but she wanted mommy and daddy to not be so sad anymore. The cub talked to Sana about how her parents needed to be sad for a while, but they would be okay soon, and how the girl should call her when she thought mommy and daddy were too sad so she could go and give them hugs to help them feel better, and also taught the girl how to use the landline and that she should hug her parents and give them kisses a lot too.

It wasn’t that long after the call when Dahyun rang the doorbell, passing Chaeyoung sleepy Mina and her little backpack, promising to be back as soon as she could and having her best friend dismiss her, saying they were taking Mina and never giving her back. And that they were taking care of Sana, so Dahyun didn’t have to rush, the little girl could sleep over too and keep the older one some company, which didn’t sound too bad on the pale one’s opinion.

A quick call to Nayeon and the decision Mina would have an impromptu sleep-over was made, both her mothers were to work really late and Jackson was off doing whatever Jackson does, plus, it would be good for the cousins to get acquainted with each other. They would, over the years, but nobody knew that so far, and the Im siblings were still not talking, hell, Jaebum didn’t want to see his sister at all, especially given the current circumstances.


	15. 15

“Sana-unnie! Sana-unnie!” Mina woke up before her friend, and was too excited to wait any more.

“Oh? Micchan!” Sana wakes up to a very jumpy little penguin and breaks out in a huge smile.

“Mama said it was a mergenchy and we came.” Mina chirps happily, already dragging a still groggy Sana.

“Oh.” Is all the older answers, using her little hands to rub her still tired eyes.

“Hello, you two.” Momo greets them as the girls enter the kitchen. “Come and sit down, I have some cake for you.”

Mina does a little cheer and rushes to sit, whilst Sana stands there, not really in the mood for cake. Momo notices and gives Mina the cake, telling her to start eating and she would take Sana-unnie to the bathroom really quick. The younger just nods and starts eating happily, but the little squirrel still doesn’t look that good, so Momo takes her to wash her face, use the bathroom and have the girl breathe a little before returning. Chaeyoung was in her office when they passed it, and Momo told her wife to go look after the other girl in the dining room.

“Sacchan, do you want to tell auntie Momo what is wrong?” The woman asks once they are done.

“Micchan is here, but I don’t wanna play today.” Comes the shy answer.

“Why don’t you two watch a movie, then?” The nurse tries. “You can talk to Micchan and maybe you will want to play later?! It’s okay if you don’t.”

“Okay.” The girl’s voice is small and hesitant.

“It’s alright, honey.” The woman coos, hugging the girl and carrying her back to the living room.

When they do get back, Chaeyoung and Mina are still on the dining table, so Momo asks Sana if she wants to eat her cake now, the girl says no, then her auntie asks if she wants something else, and Sana asks for some apples, saying her mother would always cut apples for her when she was sad. So, apples Sana got, and she sat on her auntie’s lap up until it was time for Momo to change and go to the hospital, so she could make sure Jaebum would go home that day, it was her turn.

Chaeyoung was told Sana didn’t feel too well, and managed to get Mina to agree to a movie, instead of running around, it was fairly easy, she just had to say Sana-unnie wanted to watch one and the younger girl threw herself on the couch, still jumpy, but ready for the movie anyways. They went through about one and a half, and Chaeyoung left the girls to make lunch, Mina had been holding Sana’s hand the entire time, looking a little worried, but the photographer had to feed them soon, so she opted not to ask.

“Sana-unnie?” Mina gets a hum and continues. “Why are you sad?”

“Mama is sick, and papa said I’m not gonna be an unnie anymore.” Sana turns to find big, sparkly eyes looking at her. “Papa is sad too, but he pretends he isn’t. And I don’t want them to be sad anymore.”

“Mommy told me to talk to the goddess if I was feeling sad and didn’t have anyone to talk to.”

“The goddess?” Sana’s eyes sparkle with interest.

“Yeah, I write a letter for her when I’m feeling sad. Jackie Jackie oppa taught me.” Mina pulls the other girl and they settle on the coffee table.

The younger one settles her friend down and runs out to the kitchen to ask their auntie for some paper and crayons. Chaeyoung laughs wholeheartedly and fetches some paper and a box of crayons for the girls. Mina spends the rest of the morning and a good part of the afternoon writing with Sana, Jackson had taught his sister how to write properly, but the older girl had parents who believed she should learn things in her own pace, so she didn’t have the best her six year-old ability could offer, but it was still good enough.

It was just two days later when Jihyo was allowed to go home, although she was barred from any physical activity, and was to be off her feet as much as she could. Sana was very happy she got to see her mother again and spend more than a few minutes with her. Jaebum was still off work, but was trying to get his boss to allow him back, he needed the money from the extra hours, but everyone around the couple knew to take care of them, as they would be too stubborn to care for themselves if they had put their heads into anything. Mr Kim, Jaebum’s boss, was an old man with a young heart, and loved the boy like his own son, especially after he heard the young man’s story, so the paid leave continued until further notice.

Sana had been writing to the goddess ever since she learned it from Mina, and had already told the deity half her life story, Jihyo got curious that afternoon, she had been laying on the couch, trying to muster the patience to watch a movie and observing her daughter being very invested on the paper in front of her. Surely, Sana focusing on anything that required sitting still was something very out of the ordinary, so the nurse got too invested on her daughter and decided to forgo the movie completely (she was never paying attention anyways).

“SanaSana, what are you doing baby?” Jihyo coos at her little girl.

“Talking to the goddess!” The girl chirps and goes back to writing.

“Can mommy see?” The woman asks and pats the sofa for the girl to join her.

“Sure!” Sana says happily, getting up and going to sit down beside her mother.

Jihyo takes the paper that’s handed to her and reads with a smile on her face while Sana snuggles beside her, making herself comfortable but still (surprisingly) taking care to not hurt her mom, to the best a six year-old could muster. The woman feels like crying a little when she reads what was written on the paper, but decides to ask the girl a few questions before the kid falls asleep on her.

“SanaSana, who taught you to do this?”

“Micchan taught me!” The girl answers happily, remembering her friend. 

“Who is Micchan?”

“My friend! I met at auntie Changie and auntie Momo, she is nice.” Sana lets out a little yawn, despite being excited to talk about her friend. “She told me her oppa taught her.”

“That’s nice, sweetie. Do you want to sleep a little with mama?” The girl nods and closes her eyes.

Jihyo goes back to reading the letter, letting her tears fall, now that the girl was asleep. Despite being in a very fragile state, she still didn’t want to worry her little girl any more, she knew Sana was affected too, and was trying to not worsen the girl’s condition. But seeing her kid was still hopeful, and still tried to see the bright side of things warmed her heart, maybe that was the spirit they should have.

_ Deer Goddess, _

_ It’s me again Sana Park Sana  _

_ Mommy told me to introduce myself properly when I meet someone  _

_ my friend Mitang told me to talk to you _

_ I don’t know if this work but I want help to make mommy and daddy be happy _

_ My mommy got sick and daddy got very very sad I’m sad too I dunt want mommy and daddy to be sad _

_ Can you help them be happy again? _

_ Thank you for talking to me _

_ Kisses _

It was cute, sure there was teh pang in her heart when she saw her daughter was worried like that, but the girl had found a silver lining, and Jihyo was happy the girl wasn’t just sad, she was trying to help them as well. While she was trying to get a hold of herself, Jaebum had come back from his grocery run, finding his daughter sleeping and his wife crying, obviously he got worried and started fussing. Jihyo motioned for him to calm down and stop being noisy.

“Come over here and I’ll show you.” The woman says, once her husband stopped making a mess.

“Why are you crying? Are you okay? Is Sana okay?”

“Calm down. We are fine. I’m crying because our daughter is the cutest, and I couldn’t help myself.”

“What do you mean?”

Jihyo just hands him the letter, he tears up a little too, having understood what got strong woman Park Jihyo to become a hopeless, crying mess like that.Jaebum offers a wet chuckle, kisses his wife and goes back to the grocery bags he had dropped, in his haste and goes to the kitchen to get started on their dinner. Goddess, how he loved those two...


	16. 16

It has been about a week since Jihyo got out of the hospital, she had just been to the doctor and gotten permission to do some light activities, read: some light stretching and up to ten minutes slow walks. That made her a lot less stressed, she was a woman of action, and having being bed bound for the last two weeks got her riding up the walls in frustration, she wanted to walk around, do laundry, be allowed to take care of her family, anything to not just idle around, she knew it would be another two weeks, minimum, until she would be allowed back to work, and even then it would be desk work until who knows when.

In celebration, she decided she would take an evening walk with Sana and Jaebum, sure she was claiming to be fine, but he knew his wife and wasn’t about to let her out of his sight. As they were just back from Jihyo’s appointment, and it was still light out, despite being after six, they all just took their time walking around the park close to their house. Jihyo noticed a tall figure that seemed to be watching them from afar, but she just pegged it to be someone very fond of kids, who found Sana cute, the figure  _ was _ playing with some dogs and other kids, but the nurse could feel the gaze on them.

It was nice, finally, going out as a family, Sana was very happy, which made her incredibly hyper and very noisy, her parents loved it, but some might find it a tad annoying. Jaebum was just happy to see the smile on his wife’s face, it still didn’t reach her eyes, nor did they shine like they should, but it was progress, and he would take anything he got. Sana had been writing to her  _ Deer Goddess _ everyday, sometimes more than once a day, and they found it endearing and would ask about it whenever they remembered.

Sunset came and the family decided to get some takeout and head home, Sana was starting to lose steam, and Jaebum wanted to get her showered before she started slugging around. When asked, the girl shouted she wanted ‘jajameow’ and jumped on her father, Jaebum and Jihyo just laughed and went to get the food. Sana still a little hyper, she had quieted down significantly, though.

Jae declared he was going to get Sana to shower right after he had finished the dishes, Jihyo was grounded and made to lie on the couch and wait for them. The shower turned on at the same time the doorbell rang, Jihyo just groaned in frustration and got up, she had just gotten comfortable (everybody hates having to get up when they just got comfortable). There was some barking right outside the door, and a hushed voice asking the dog (?) to be nice and wait quietly.

“Hello, how can I hel-” Jihyo trails off once she takes in the appearance of the one outside the door.

There was a young woman standing there with a little dog, it looked like it was a white chihuahua, and the woman was tall dark and- ANTLERS????? Is this what they call furry? But didn’t those people usually chose cats and dogs? A deer was new, but where was the rest of the cosplay? Did she just wear the antlers and that was that? What is this person doing here, there were no new neighbours that they knew of. Wh-

“I can answer all of those, just invite me in and we can get some coffee.” The woman interrupts Jihyo’s panicked train of thought.

“What?”

“No, I’m not a furry.” The woman begins with a frustrated huff. “And I would really appreciate if you didn’t group me with those weirdos. Yes, I’m judging, sue me. Not a cosplay as well, these are natural.”

“Did I say all that aloud?” The nurse gets a little flustered.

“Not at all, doesn’t mean I don’t know about it. Now, coffee and talk?” The woman asks in a ridiculously charming dimpled smile.

“Fine, come on in.” 

Jihyo relents and steps aside for the woman to enter, sure, it was weird, and she had no idea who this stranger was, but her curious mind didn’t let her send the woman away, and she could swear she saw the antlers move a little and was dying to touch those things and find out about them. The little dog followed and settled beside the couch. 

“Sorry but, who are you? And why are you here?” The shorter woman couldn’t help herself.

“Shouldn’t we wait for the rest of the family? I will introduce myself to everyone once they are done showering, but you can call me Tzuyu, this little guy is Gucci.” She gestures to the little dog at the last part.

“You know what?! I’m not even going to bother.” Jihyo just gives up the questions, and Jaebum comes back with Sana right then.

They were already settling for the evening, so both were on their pajamas, Sana on her new squirrel onesies (she had finally agreed to let go of her old shiba ones that were too small for her) and Jaebum in flannel pants and a simple shirt, both looking fresh and comfortable. The girl ran and jumped on the stranger, saying something about having been waiting for her visit? Okay, now things were REALLY weird.

“Hello, I’m Jaebum.” The man greets, a little doubtful.

“Time to introduce myself, then.” Antl- Tzuyu smiles and gets up.


	17. 17

“Time to introduce myself, then.” Antl- Tzuyu smiles and gets up.

Tzuyu’s clothes start to change to some traditional dress, an old instrument appears in her hands, Gucci grows and stretches until it’s morphed into some sort of serpent, maybe a dragon. Sana was over the moon, she was giggling and cheering, while her parents were getting another trauma to work through in therapy. Jaebum had come and hugged his wife from the back, both not sure what to take from the events happening in their living room.

“I’m The Deer Goddess, it has been too long since I last received prayers, and your daughter is, now, my only follower. I decided to reward her dedication to me.”

“You mean to tell us that there really is a Deer Goddess?” Jaebum asks, still trying to wrap his head around everything.

“I am here and you can see and touch me, no?!” Good point.

“Like a goddess who is a deer, or a goddess of the deer?” Jihyo is the one to ask this time.

“Both? Neither? Does it matter?” Tzuyu questions, but continues before they can ask more stupid things. “Us, the gods of old, came to be in a different manner. Your new gods they were believed into existence by yourselves, whilst us, the gods of old, have been since the beginning of time and will remain after everything ends.”

“Oh.” Is the only thing both adults manage to answer before falling into a contemplative trance.

While her parents were busy trying to wrap their heads around what was happening, unable to deny the woman’s supernatural origins, as she had transformed right before their eyes, and the damn dog did too, Sana took the time to play with their guests. Tzuyu was more than happy to give all her attention to the child, knowing the couple would need a little longer to snap out of their reverie. 

“Chewy unnie!” The girl chirps, getting a humm in response. “Are you going to stay with us?”

“Yes I am, Sana-chan. You are my very special devotee, and I’m more than happy to be with you.” The goddess answers with a fond smile.

They do play for a while, Tzuyu had guided the couple to sit on the couch, and neither seemed to have noticed much, it was mostly because Jihyo couldn’t keep standing for too long, and the goddess wasn’t about allowing harm to come to her followers. Their trip was only disrupted when Sana came and demanded attention.

“Mommy, daddy, can Chewy unnie sleep in my room?”

“I’m sorry, what did you say, sweetie?” Jihyo snaps back to reality.

“Chewy unnie, can she sleep in my room?”

“Yes, she can. But mommy and daddy want to talk to Tzuyu unnie a little, can you go with daddy and wait for her in your bed?” The nurse asks.

Sana just nods happily and drags her father to tuck her in. Both women watch them go with fond amusement, Jihyo silently offers more tea, which Tzuyu gladly accepts, they remain unspeaking until Jaebum returns. The goddess, as it seemed to be her habit, starts speaking as soon as the man settles besides his wife, not waiting nor needing for anything to be asked or said.

“I’m staying with Sana for as long as I please. There has been too long since I last had followers, no one prays for us anymore. The new gods have taken over, and I haven’t had prayers in centuries, so here I am.” She sips her tea, granting the couple come time to take in the information. “I’m here to listen and answer to all of Sana’s desires, she is my only worshiper in so long, I’m making her my priestess and she will be blessed with extraordinary gifts.”

“So you are saying you intend on living with us?” Jaebum confirms.

“No need to bother yourself with that, though. I- We don’t really rest like mortals, I’ll just head back to my temple while you rest and come back in the morning. Don’t worry too much, though, I will know when I’m needed if I’m absent and will return in the blink of an eye.”

“Right…….” Jihyo draws out, a little dubious, still. “So, should I cook you breakfast as well, or-”

“Oh, please do, I love food. Don’t mind Gucci, though, he prefers handling his food himself.”

“Alright.” Jaebum just gives up. “Sana is waiting, Ji. Let’s go give her goodnight kisses and Chewy unnie can keep her company until she sleeps.”

They just head to the girl’s room to do just that, Jihyo giving up during the short walk. It wasn’t the craziest thing she had ever seen, working the E.R. for too long would expose you to every single insanity the human mind could produce, having a goddess declaring she will pamper your daughter wasn’t that bad afterall. Tzuyu is just smiling silently at the thoughts the couple were having.

Jaebum, despite being the first one to just accept it, was fighting internally, his rational side was battling his irrational father side and it was amusing the deity immensely. Jihyo, on the other hand, was pondering about the crazy stunts she had witnessed in her life and arguing that a goddess was actually a very good thing to happen to them, at least Sana was happy and not losing her positivity after losing her unborn brother, which impressed Tzuyu greatly.

This couple was strong, both took life face first and never backed down, accepting the hand they were dealt and making the most of everything, especially when it came to their daughter, both would kill themselves for their family, and Tzuyu regarded this kind of determination with utmost respect, one of the reasons she decided to bless this family, even if Gucci had argued they didn’t need to and she was just doing it because she was bored.

Maybe she was a little bored, but that wasn’t the only reason. Regardless, these were great people who had been unlucky in life but still fought teeth and nails to make the best of everything and give their child all the love and everything they could provide for her, and that, my friends, was something humans seemed to be losing lately. Our Deer Goddess was not about to dismiss such specimens just like that.


	18. 18

“ _ Jihyo?” _

“Yes?” It comes out more annoyed than intended.

“ _ I know you are getting examined and whatnot, and that I’m supposed to be at your place to watch Sana, but who is this tall and beautiful woman already here?” _

“Youngjae, please calm your hormones down.” The nurse asks, already feeling the headache kicking in. “That’s Tzuyu, she is a goddess and is hanging around Sana to make all her wishes come true. Now, I know technically Tzuyu is a responsible adult, but she isn’t exactly the most responsible when it comes to keeping our little girl under control, so I’m hoping you can get past the raging boner I know you already have, and make sure they don’t get in trouble.”

“ _ Okay, first of all, I’m not taking that kind of language, young lady. And I’m not that desperate.” _ The man tries to argue back.

“Maybe not, but she is a pretty lady and we all know you can’t keep yourself in check near pretty ladies.”

“ _ I ca-” _

“You still get flustered around me and we’ve been together since I met Jaebum, in a matter of fact, you introduced me to Jaebum.”

“ _ Point taken.” _ He surrenders. “ _ I’ll try to keep them out of trouble.” _

“Good.” Jihyo says, without much conviction. “We’ll be home as soon as we can, and Chae is working from home today, so call her if you need anything, she is good in controlling those two.”

_ “I will. Bye, Ji. Keep us updated.” _

“Will do, bye bye.”

With that, the call is over. Jihyo just sighs, she knew having Youngjae look after her two troublemakers was risky, but she also knew Chaeyoung needed to finish her work, she got to charge a very handsome ‘hurry up’ fee and both her and Momo needed the extra cash. Speaking of the other nurse, she was looking suspiciously at Jihyo from the moment she arrived and the smaller woman wasn’t about to lose, it was a game they often played, and none was about to give in.

Tzuyu had been with them for a couple of weeks now, things ended up falling into routine pretty well, surprisingly. The goddess was just a big child (sometimes just a big puppy), and both Jihyo and Jaebum ended up thinking of her as their older daughter, the deity surely was as troublesome as Sana, and was very reckless in sticking to her ‘attending to Sana’s every whim’ promise. Sure, the couple now had another mouth to feed and one more source of headaches, but they decided to just roll with it and not claim the problem for themselves if they didn’t have to.

Right now, Jaebum was accompanying his wife to her doctor’s appointment, to make sure she was recovering properly, and maybe get her the ok to go back to her usual workload. She was already trying to sneak in some things she wasn’t supposed to be doing, maybe that’s why Momo had been giving her the stink eye, well, patience. Sure enough, the all clear was given, and the woman couldn’t be happier, Jaebum texted their ‘Family’ group chat as soon as they got the news (the group consisted of Jaebum, Jihyo, Momo, Chaeyoung and Youngjae).

Speaking of Youngjae, bless his heart, they had been trying to find him someone for a while now, he was a great, stand up guy, and the group had been trying to find someone that was good enough for him and get the man to find his better half. The problem was, he had been single for, maybe, too long, and would always show a little desperation whenever he went on a date, most found it too much, and the two couples were trying to get him the person who would find it endearing. But, for now, the deity living with the Parks wasn’t an option and Jaebum was eager to get home and stop his best friend from embarrassing himself further (they all were aware Tzuyu could read their thoughts and Youngjae’s were less than pure most times).


	19. 19

“Come in” 

“Mom, can I talk to you?” Jackson asks, popping his head in the door.

“Sure you can, hun.” Nayeon answers with a smile, then turns to the man she was talking to. “Kookie, can we finish this later? My big baby needs me.”

“Sure we can!” The man chuckles goodnaturedly. “If he came all this way, it must be an emergency.”

“Mooom!” Jackson plays along, sounding as annoyed as he could and stomping his feet a little.

The two executives laugh, though ‘Kookie’ just gathers his papers and leaves, shaking his head amusedly and taping the young man’s shoulder on the way out. Nayeon just watches with a warm smile, she knew her son never really did these things unless he was in an extremely good mood and feeling playful. That was always a great thing to see, for her, as she knew things weren’t always easy for her boy. Sure, Jackson was a great and resourceful man, and Dahyun had raised him with the very best she could offer, but Nayeon saw how they would come home late, sometimes, looking like the weight of the world was on their shoulders.

She knew they didn’t have an easy life, and both were doing anything and everything they could to keep her and Mina out of the dark side of the big corporations. Their position and everything it enticed was dangerous and nobody was completely free from the darkness lurking around, nor what it brought along. The bunny also knew her wife and their son felt better if she pretended not to know what they were up to, or that she wasn’t seeing everything, and so she did, it was a better choice, rather than spoil the mood just because she felt like voicing something she knew both were very aware of.

“Mom, if you are busy, I can come back later.”

“Nonsense! I’m never busy for my children, and everyone knows that. Come sit with me and we’ll talk.” She pulls them towards the couch. “Do you want anything?”

“I’m fine, just had some coffee on the way here.”

“And you dare tell me that without having brought me a donut?” Nayeon huffs, very offended. “I thought we raised you better.”

“And you did, but there was this old man asking for money on the street, so I gave him my other coffee, your donut and whatever was on my wallet.”

“That’s my boy.” The woman coos lovingly, hugging her son and tries to kiss him. “So, why are you here?”

“Mom, please, no kisses. You know I won’t be able to remove your lipstick anytime soon.” He whines. “And I’m here about uncle Jaebum and aunt Jihyo.”

That settles Nayeon down, giving her entire attention to whatever the young man had to tell her. Sure, she was a child at heart, and always did her best to make the mood lighthearted and playful around her, but she wouldn’t hesitate to be serious and focused whenever she needed to. It was a sight to see, really, Im Nayeon was a beautiful woman, and her commanding side turned more than a few heads whenever it showed up.

“What about them?” Worry couldn’t be kept away from her.

“It’s good news, relax.” Jackson hugs his mother and feels her relaxing a little. “Aunt Jihyo just got the all clear, and is back to work. Uncle Jaebum is less stressed and his boss has been giving him less hours so he could take more chores at home, since aunt Jihyo was on medical rest and all.”

“That’s really good news indeed. But we have to make sure mother doesn’t catch wind of them.”

“Don’t worry about that. Ma and I have it covered, unless she goes after them herself, no information gets to her if we don’t want it to.”

“That’s good to know, but do you think I should get over there?”

“I think you are late already.”

They smile fondly at each other, the man tightening his hold just that much more. Nayeon was scared out of her mind about facing her brother again, she knew how bad she had screwed things up, she saw how much her brother had done for her throughout the years and how much she owed him. She was also very well aware of how poorly she had treated his wife, a woman she had never met before, who she judged without knowing a single thing about her, not even her name, yet she hurt that woman deeply, without reason but the couple still stuck together despite everything.

“I think you are really your mother’s son.” She gives out a wet chuckle.

“I’m both my mothers’ son. And so is Minnie, by the way. But that’s not important right now, and you should think about trying this saturday. Aunt Jihyo will work the morning shift. Maybe try in the afternoon.”

“You do know today is friday, right?! You are giving me, like, today to prepare myself.”

“You’ve had too long to prepare yourself already, just go.” He gets up and makes to leave. “Oh, and ma said she is more than willing to drag you there if needed. I advise you to just go willingly.”

“Fine.” Nayeon huffs, gets up and kisses her son goodbye. “Now be a nice boy and go hang around so we can go get lunch together. Tell Chuu to send Kookie back in.”

He just shakes his head in amusement, but kisses his mother anyways and goes off to ask her secretary to send the man back in, whatever he did in the company. No, Jackson didn’t know every single employee, just the ones he interacted the most with, he had his intel team to keep an eye on everyone, his mind was already pretty full with other things to worry about.


	20. 20

“Can we get out now?” Mina has lost her patience twenty minutes ago.

“We will, just give mommy some time.” Dahyun tries to negotiate…..  _ Again _ .

“I did, and w-” The girl gets interrupted by a knock on the passenger window.

The four occupants jump slightly and turn to see Jihyo looking into the vehicle with a less than amused expression. She motions for them to open the window and Nayeon does, swallowing dryly, words had escaped everyone else as well.

“Come inside.” The nurse says, more of an order than anything, and heads back inside.

Jihyo stops halfway through the door and turns back around, still silent, but the family understands right away and they all scramble out of the car and after her. Jackson is weary, he had never met anyone that intimidated him with two words, like this small woman had just done, he knew scary, he lived with dangerous, but this was on another level. Makes you wonder how much bullshit she had to deal with in her career, no patient would dare not follow her instructions after seeing that look.

Once they do enter the residence, Jihyo is waiting for them in the hallway and signals for all to follow her. Once they do, there is Jaebum looking like he could murder all and not even blink through it, Jihyo still looking unimpressed and a woman playing with Sana. Said woman turns all their heads, she is tall, gorgeous and has some furry thing going on, apparently, Mina jumps out of her brother’s arms and dashes to her friend so they could play already.

“Sacchan!” 

“Micchan! You came over! Come play with us.” Sana greets, jumping up and hugging the surprise guest.

“No, I’m not a furry, these are real. And why do you all go to furry everytime?!”

Tzuyu complains, embracing the two girls who have run to her and going back to playing with Gucci. The other three are still trying to comprehend everything they are witnessing, when said antlers slightly move as soon as the woman gets excited with the girls. Now they are just considering if they are sharing an illusion, maybe they got drugged at some point.

“No, it’s not an illusion, Tzuyu is real. Just have a seat and we will talk.” Jihyo breaks the silence. “Tzu, can you take the girls to the park to play a little? I don’t think it’s very wise to have this conversation with them around.” She mumbles, knowing the goddess will listen, even if she doesn’t say it aloud.

“Sacchan, how about we take Micchan to the park? We can go walk Gucci and play by the lake.” Tzuyu suggests to the girls.

“Yay! Can we have ice cream too?” The older girl asks.

“No, not before lunch.” Jaebum tries to prevent it from happening, but the kids have an ice cream cone each when he finishes his sentence.

“How?” Dahyun, who was observing intently, tries to understand.

“Tzu, just don’t give her anymore, please. They need to have lunch later and we both know they won’t if there is another ice cream.” Jihyo pleads, but the Parks know Tzuyu will just do whatever Sana asks.

“We’ll be going now, come on girls.” Tzuyu gets up and motions to the girls to follow. “I’ll know, don’t worry.” She answers Jackson’s unasked question.

The trio heads out, Sana holding Mina’s hand tightly, both walking ahead of the goddess and behind Gucci. The Parks wait for the door to close behind them to start talking, having the girls around for this was, surely, not advised. Nayeon was already far gone by then, she had been nervous from the moment Jackson told her to come, but, since she saw Jihyo’s face, she lost it, Dahyun’s hand on hers was the only thing keeping her steady at the moment.


	21. 21

“Look, Dahyun, right?! We don’t really know you, and we don’t really know who you are.” Jaebum begins, motioning to Jackson at the last part. “But Nayeon here isn’t that welcome in this house.”

“Jae, don’t be like that. No matter who she is, she is your sister in the end.” Jihyo reminds him.

While the Ims were sitting in the car, Jihyo had seen them and told Jaebum she was going to invite them inside to talk. Her husband tried to avoid it at all costs, but she had asked Tzuyu to not let Sana listen to what she was about to say, and proceeded to tell him it had been years already, and question what was the worst that could happen by letting the woman in. Jihyo knew how it broke Jaebum’s heart when he cut ties with his little sister all those years back, and, as much as Nayeon had hurt both of them, she was the one family member he could reconnect with. And Jihyo went out to fetch them, telling the man she wanted to talk to them.

Turns out, Sana had already grown fond of her cousin, and neither parent really had the heart to keep their little girl away from the friend who helped her not get to the dark place the rest of the Parks were after Jinyoung. Sure, it was Nayeon’s kid, but they had met Dahyun before and honestly had nothing against the woman despite the fact that she was married to Im Nayeon. So, here they were, willing to give the one person who hurt them the most a chance to come through and, finally, make the first move to stand up to her mistakes.

“I’m sorry, love.” Jaebum relents, pulling his wife to cuddle. “Have a seat, let’s talk.”

“Oh. Right.” Nayeon, the only one who was still standing, sits between her wife and their son.

“I believe I should introduce myself. I’m Jackson, their son.” The young man introduces, and the Park couple offers a handshake.

“Nice to meet you. I feel you are a good man, but I have to ask, aren’t you a little old to be theirs?” Jaebum asks, no malice at all in his words, just pure curiosity.

“Oh, I can answer that.” Dahyun perks up. “You know that money gives you a lot of free passes throughout life.” They nod and she continues. “So, I found Jackson on the streets when I was eighteen, he was a scrawny six-year-old trying to pickpocket me, I found his courage endearing, and then I broke his arm.”

Jackson giggles, Nayeon just manages a chuckle, and Dahyun is smiling widely at the memory. The Ims were very familiar with the tale of Dahyun adopting a little boy who tried to rob her, but it did surprise everyone else who would listen to it for the first time, especially when the pale woman was the one telling it. Jihyo and Jaebum had chuckled a little and were staring at them in disbelief, and so, the young man continued.

“Ma, you tell it horribly every time.” 

“I tell it perfectly, excuse you.” She feigned annoyance. 

“No, you don’t.” He says and turns back to his aunt and uncle. “I was starving on the streets, and so week my body was starting to fall under itself. So, when ma grabbed my arm to stop me from robbing her, it simply broke. No real force was needed, really. So, ma freaked out and brought me to the hospital, I was put under as soon as I got there, and woke up a few days later with her telling me ‘You are my son now.’ with that blinding smile of hers.” 

“There is some information missing there.” Jihyo eggs them on to tell them more.

“That’s because this brat can’t let me tell it.” The smaller one protests. “So, I brought him to the E.R. and told the doctor to take care of the sick child that was just trying to rob me. When asked, I just said I found him on the streets, so they tried to find anyone that could come and claim him. When I found out he wasn’t even korean I just called my lawyer and told him I’m adopting a kid I found.”

“Her lawyer is used to her whims, he has been dealing with her since childhood.” Nayeon explains, looking at her wife, her eyes dripping honey. 

“Right. So, the paperwork was sent in the next day, and two weeks later I had a son. It was hard on the first few months, JackJack spent most of them in the hospital, but it gave me the chance to hammer into his head that he was about to start studying to be a good man when he grows up.” Dahyun finishes with a smile and a wet kiss to her son.

“Honestly, I was so tired of her speeches that I did anything and everything so she wouldn’t start another one.” Jackson mock-complains, giving his mother back a kiss even more wet. “But, as it turns out, ma was right and all those classes were very needed.”

“You two are something.” Jaebum chuckles. “But it’s good to know, I see a fine young man indeed.”

“Thanks uncle.” 

“Now, that we broke the ice, what about you, Nayeon?” Jihyo asks, simply sounding tired and the woman snaps her head towards her. “You want to talk, that’s why you came here a while back, and that’s why you are here today, no?!”


	22. 22

“I know this changes nothing, but I have to say it.” Nayeon begins with a huff. “I am sorry. So very sorry about everything, I was a spoilt brat that never knew how things really worked in the real world and just thought of myself. Everything I said to both of you and everything I did at that time was just a child, who never got denied anything in life, throwing a tantrum.”

“Glad you know that, at least.” Jaebum bites, the venom still in his words. “And I’m not ready to forgive you yet. I gave you the best life you could have, Nayeon, and you just stomped on everything just because you were jealous of my wife.”

“I know, and I don’t expect to get there without hard work. Just being allowed to sit with you on your living room is already more than I could have hoped for.” Younger Im says with all sincerity.

“Thank Jihyo for that. If it was me, you would still be sitting on that car. She is the one who proclaimed I should, at least, give you a chance to talk.” He kisses his wife’s head at that.

“Can I just input something here?” Dahyun tries to break the tension, getting the go ahead from her hosts. “Can we begin with letting the girls play, at least? I mean, Mina doesn’t talk about anything other than Sana ever since they met, and we all can see they like each other a lot.”

“I think I can work with that. Jae?” Jihyo asks and gets a nod in response. “Maybe I’m not ready to welcome sister dearest with open arms yet, but I’m willing to open our doors to your kids.” 

At that, Jackson looks up, a little surprised, and his mothers look satisfied. Sure, there was a lot of hurt and a lot of work Nayeon would have to put in, but Jihyo saw how Sana liked Mina, the girl being the one who brought Tzuyu into their lives, though it was more because of Sana’s still developing writing skills, but still, the goddess was just a big puppy and their little girl had been so happy that neither Jihyo nor Jaebum had the heart to do anything to reject the deity. Sana had also told her parents it was Mina’s big brother who taught her how to write to the goddess, and that very act was what kept their little girl from riding their wave of sadness and defeat with them.

“I’m alright with my niece and nephew visiting, Sana loves Mina already, and I can tell Jackson loves his sister a lot too.” Jaebum chuckles. “No need to look at me like that, I might not be your biggest fan right now, but my niece makes my daughter happy, and neither her nor my nephew can be blamed for their mother’s mistakes, can they?!”

“Thank you.” Nayeon couldn’t help but cry at that. 

“Don’t thank me yet, you should focus on your hard work if you want me to give you another chance.” The older Im dismisses. “That, and you have to work things out with Ji as well, I’m not with it if she isn’t.”

“I will, by the goddess, I will.” The bunny promises.

“What about me?” Tzuyu asks from the door, having known things wouldn’t blow up again, she came back with the girls.

“Okay, I’m sorry, but I  _ have _ to ask.” Dahyun blurts out.

“Yes, they are very real. I am the Deer Goddess, Sana is my first follower after very long, and I decided to live with her and answer all her wishes. Sure, you can touch them, but be gentle, they are very sensitive.” Tzuyu answers some of the many unasked questions.

“Ho-” The pale woman begins, but is cut off right away.

“Like I said, I’m a goddess, it’s part of my job description to know you mortal’s thoughts.” 

The deity laughs, sitting herself on the floor with the kids and motioning for the curious adults to touch her antlers. Jihyo and Jaebum had succumbed to their curiosity on the second day, when they came to the kitchen to find Tzuyu sitting by the counter and coloring one of Jaebum’s “adult coloring books” that his wife would never let him live down peacefully. She was humming and swinging her feet, the damn antlers were bouncing slightly and wiggling to the melody, needless to say, both were centimeters away from poking them when they heard a throat being cleaned and stopped in their tracks.

The goddess had a field day with teasing them and constantly wiggling the things in front of the couple until they got angry and scream-begged to touch them. It was a different experience, Tzuyu’s antlers didn’t feel like simply bone and hide, they were warm, and felt really silky to the touch, so much so, Jaebum found himself running his face against them and slightly drooling. It earned him a whooping from the deity, eternal mockery from Jihyo and a couple of hours of shamefully, yet very delicately, cleaning his spit trail from those divine things.

“Come on, now. You three want to touch them, it’s okay to. BUT! Only if you ask first, surprising me isn’t a very good idea.”

And so they do. Sana was really the only one who could play with the antlers anytime she wanted to, it was one of her wishes. And Nayeon, much like her brother, found herself burying her face on the little piece of paradise that were Tzuyu’s antlers, also drooling all over them, getting her ass beat and told to clean them up. Dahyun was almost doing the same, but managed to control herself, thanks to Jackson who was making such excited exclamations that she found too endearing not to be distracted with.


	23. 23

“I don’t wanna!”

“It’s time to sleep, young lady.”

“But I’m not sleepy!”

“You are going to sleep now and stop whining.”

“I want to stay up all night!”

“Tzuyu, get back here, I just want to talk.”

Jihyo demanded, leaving her daughter’s room after finding herself unable to insist that the girl would go to sleep. Sure, the goddess was mostly harmless, not that granting the wishes of a kid could bring that much danger, but in times like these, when Sana was already moody because it was long past her bedtime, and was granted her wish to stay awake the couple would lose their patience with the deity. Jaebum would just punish their, now considered, oldest daughter with no bread for a week, but Jihyo was scary, she would look eerily calm but completely intimidating. The calmer Jihyo seemed, the angrier she was, and right now, she looked like reaching nirvana.

Tzuyu, having been treated as a daughter by the couple for a while now, and had learned to not provoke the woman, which she couldn’t help when she had vowed to fulfil the child’s every whim. So we find our resident goddess perched on the dark corner of the roof, trying to stall enough for Jihyo’s anger to dissipate to the point where the woman won’t try to murder her again (four times were enough for everyone to understand the nurse was not afraid to hide a body if she needed to).

“Tzuyu, come down here and talk to me, please.” Comes a very calm and very soothing voice. “I need to talk to you real quick.”

Obviously, she wasn’t falling for that again, not after the second time she got Jihyo angry and ended up having to beg Gucci to help put her antlers back in place…. After they found her left arm about to be mauled in the garbage disposal. Gory? Not that much, they all found out the goddess doesn’t really bleed, and whenever she has an injury a light comes from it until it heals on its own, and that’s about it. Obviously, it was an information Tzuyu was trying to keep from Jihyo for as long as possible, for obvious reasons.

How can a simple human exert that much power over a deity? Simple, Jihyo developed an unhealthy (for Tzuyu) friendship with Gucci, decided to become a follower of the serpent god and the damn idiot decided to grace his one follower just like the goddess did, and Jaebum also joined and became blessed too, just because Gucci was holding a grudge about some cherries for centuries and found that the perfect opportunity to begin his “discipline program” towards his friend.

Luckily, Jaebum caught his wife when she was about to grab the ladder and get to the roof herself, and brought the woman back inside for some calming cuddles. Normally it worked, and Sana was already passed out despite having claimed she was going to be up all night. Their steamy session of “grown up cuddling”, as they explained when their daughter caught them, was interrupted by a very shameless Tzuyu popping her head through the door (quite literally) to check if she could come back inside.

“You are lucky Jae distracted me and now I’m more interested in him than trying to kill you.” Is what Jihyo says when she spots the infamous antlers starting to sprout through her front door.

“Good, because if you weren’t, I would be doing a very bad job as a husband.” Jaebum chuckles and starts to get up. “Now, you better not let Sana hear us, or I won’t hold Ji back again.”

He winks and grabs his little wife, throwing her over his shoulder and walking into the couple’s bedroom, before closing the door with his heel and never bothering to look back. Tzuyu just watches everything in disbelief, shaking her head while she “soundproof” said bedroom anyways, the last thing she wanted was to be the one to explain what her parents were doing when Sana woke up from the noise and asked. Her chest ached a little at the thought of the happy, and very much in love, couple she was living with, but what were a few months in the life of a goddess, if not a mere blink.

At that moment, in a faraway place, on a rather beautiful part of the god’s realm, bunny ears shot up to the sky, shifting frantically in search for something, someone not there.


	24. 24

“If you don’t stop pacing, I’m seriously going to deck you.”

“I’m nervous, leave me.”

“Im Nayeon, it’s just dropping our daughter off for her playdate. You aren’t even going to stay there, and I’m the one picking her up.” Dahyun was this close to becoming an abusive wife.

“Not, it’s taking Mina to my brother’s house to play with my niece, who I haven’t been properly introduced to yet, mind you.”

“You are just exaggerating, as always. Jaebum and Jihyo are great, and you know as well as I do that they will look after Mina as their own. Now, stop being a coward and go take our daughter to play with her cousin.”

Dahyun had lost her temper and Nayeon knew it, that wasn’t something easy to achieve, but when the woman was angry, she became very flushed and her eyes screamed murder. The older had pushed her luck once back in the days when they were just married, and swore to never again, and that’s how we got Nayeon scurrying out of their bedroom to get Mina ready and take the girl to the Parks.

It would never  _ not _ leave a bad taste in Nayeon’s mouth to call her brother a Park, first it was because she couldn’t see beyond her own bratty and selfish self, then it was out of remorse for never bothering to see what the man had done for her, then it was for guilt, for having been the main reason why her brother became a Park to begin with, sure, she understood their parents would have opposed Jihyo anyways, but she was the one to first make sure Jaebum had no choice but to ditch the woman, and he still chose to walk away from everything over losing the one woman who loved him for himself.

And now, Nayeon’s chance of making up to the couple she had already done so much wrong was in the hands of the woman whose life she had made so difficult. Sure, the Parks weren’t pauper and managed to get by, but that was exactly what twisted the sharp knife called guilt into her guts every time she would think about them. The Parks shouldn’t have to manage, they should be the Ims and have all the best money could buy, but that was a problem she would need to work on herself and, hopefully, make some amends.

“Mommy?” Mina asked, seeing her mother had been silent ever since they entered the car.

“Yes, baby?” The woman asked, snapped out of her thoughts by the worry in the girl’s voice.

“Auntie Hyo and uncle Jae are really nice.” The girl quips and goes back to humming and looking out the window.

Nayeon was surely confused, but it wouldn’t be the first time Mina did something mysterious, and if there was something her mothers and brother had learned it that the girl never did anything without reason, so the woman was left to wonder what exactly the girl was trying to tell her. Before anything else could happen, they were arriving at the cozy little house where Mina was about to spend the day playing with the world’s second cutest little girl (the Ims and the Parks were disagreeing about the ranking, but we are taking Nayeon’s here) and some shady deity that would do absolutely anything the girls wished for…… Sure, nothing to worry about….

A knock on the passenger’s window and Mina happily squealing in the backseat brought the woman’s attention to what was happening, there was a sour looking Tzuyu with very murderous eyes looking directly at her and an excited Chaeyoung trying to get the girl out so they could play already. Nayeon gulped, hoping the goddess wasn’t too mad at her and helped her wife’s little friend get the jumpy girl out of her carseat.

“Since I’m a shady deity, you are going to spend your day walking around in flippers so you can reflect on your thoughts.” Tzuyu whispers to Nayeon as soon as Mina and Chaeyoung vanish into the Park residence.

“Can you make it so I can get to work first? I think I can get Dahyun to drive back home, but I don’t have anyone to drive the car to the company.” Nayeon tries to negotiate.

“You have forty minutes, better hurry.” The goddess declares and vanishes into the house as well.

The woman quickly makes her way to the company, arriving just in time for the damn flippers to take the place of her favorite Jimmy Choo’s, it should be fun trying to explain to her relentless wife why she was stuck with scuba gear all day long and hope it’s not one of the weird woman’s fetishes. Don’t ask, but it’s Dahyun, anything is possible, she’s weird, but Nayeon loved her and would try her best to not get turned off by some of the things that came out of that imaginative mind of hers.

After the meeting with Zhou Pharmaceuticals, which Nayeon was very grateful she wasn’t speaking in, Dahyun noticed her wife waddling a little to go around the table and got confused. When she saw what was on the woman’s feet, and after hearing the explanation, let’s just say Nayeon’s assistant got to go home early and the cleaning team was very confused as to why was there sand on the couch, in the CEO’s office, on the fourteenth floor of a corporate building in the middle of Seoul.


	25. 25

“Okay, and care to tell me, exactly, why is Mina spending the night? Not that I’m against it, we love her, but you were the one very adamant on picking her up.” Jihyo isn’t very patient with Dahyun calling and asking for the girl to spend the night after all the denial.

Don’t get her wrong, she loves the little girl and so does Jaebum, but Dahyun was very stubborn on not allowing for a sleepover, even though it was friday and Jihyo was only working the next afternoon, and Jaebum already said he was more than happy to just take the girls to the water park while Jihyo was working and they could just come back and get Mina Sunday evening. Nayeon was hopeful, but still agreed with her wife, saying they didn’t want to bother the Parks that much, and that they weren’t really ready to have their little girl spend the night away from them just yet.

“Spill it. And be honest with me, I will know.” Jihyo sounded calmer, not that DAhyun knew it was a sign of danger just yet.

“So, Nayeon kind of got cursed by Tzuyu.” The pale woman began, feeling compelled to tell the nurse everything. “And she is bound to walk around on flippers all day long, and it turned out I couldn’t keep it in my pants when I saw it.”

“Wait, hold up.” Jihyo was trying her very best not to break into laughter, invoking her inner nurse who had seen far worse and managed to keep serious. “You are telling me you have a flippers kink?”

“And asking you to give me a hand because I’m not really willing to go to the hospital with Nayeon, who can’t remove her flippers mind you, and try to explain why we are both bruised by sand when neither has been near a beach in three years.” She takes a deep breath. “Or why I have flipper marks on my face and butt.”

“I did NOT need to know that. But sure, Mina can spend the night.” Jihyo says through giggles, she couldn’t control herself anymore. “I’m coming over with Momo soon, just wait a bit while I try to get Tzuyu to remove the curse. Make Mina’s sleepover bag while you wait or something.”

“Thanks, Jihyo, I don’t know how to begin thanking you.” Dahyun breathes in relief, not even minding the laughter.

“You can begin by telling your wife you two are going to re-tell this every time I ask.” The nurse laughs louder. “Just hold on, I’m getting Momo and we are heading over with supplies. Text me the address.”

“Will do, thanks Ji.”

With that, they hang up. It might be a little confusing as to why would Jihyo promptly help, but, you see, she was a nurse, and she was very adamant in her promise to heal. Also, despite Nayeon not being on her favorite people’s list, she wasn’t about to turn her back on someone who came to her for help. Momo knew her best friend very well, and she knew the woman had too big of a heart, that’s what made her never deny the other help, and follow along to make sure Jihyo wouldn’t be giving too much again.

That’s how they found themselves on the Parks’ shabby little car, driving on one of Seoul’s most exclusive neighborhoods, being followed by some sort of security vehicle and getting some very confused looks from what seemed like residents. Not that either minded, obviously, but it was sure a dose of reality they didn’t sign up for, they knew they were out of their environment, and would never really belong in such a place,but Dahyun could have had the decency to give them a heads up, at least.

Despite the bothersome neighborhood, the pair of nurses arrived in a rather simple-looking house, for the area they were at, that is. It was a very modern design, with sharp edges and neutral colors, that seemed to lack the opulence of their neighbors, but it was equally imposing. Nonetheless, Jihyo rings the doorbell and a suspicious looking Dahyun answers the door, pulling both nurses inside and slamming the door shut before anyone could process what was happening.

“Okay, are you going to turn on the lights and let us see what we are dealing with, or are you just going to keep being weird?” Momo asks, very curious to see what is happening.

“I’m not being weird, we just don’t need our nosy neighbors trying to look into our house.” Dahyun bites a little.

“Dahyun, your windows are completely tinted, nobody can see anything inside even if they had their faces pressed against the glass.” Jihyo notes, pointing at said windows and drawing the curtains open.

“Okay, fine, but I must warn you, it’s not as bad as it looks.”

“Sweetie, we are nurses, and we can tell you from experience, it’s always worse than it looks.” Momo laughs.

The shorter woman gives up with a huff and turns on the lights, opening all curtains and waving a hand for the two to follow, never really turning around to face them. When the pair arrived on the couple’s bedroom and got to see what was waiting for them, it took Jihyo about forty minutes to get a hold of herself while Momo was too far gone to respond properly. The Ims, let’s just say they accepted it because neither was really willing to go to the hospital for this.

When Jihyo managed to breathe properly, she called the house and asked Jaebum, who demanded a video call before doing whatever he was about to be asked, to get Tzuyu on the phone. Sure enough, he had to restrain himself a lot when he saw, and immediately got Tzuyu on the phone so he could go and laugh freely.

“Yes?” The goddess asks, annoyed.

“Tzu, I need you to un-curse Nayeon so Momo and I can patch her up.” Jihyo ordered, even though, for someone who didn’t know her it would seem like a mild request.

“She was calling me shady.” And there was the indignant pout the deity would give whenever she was mad about something and Jihyo was trying to get her to give up on her revenge.

“I know, baby, but she is hurt and I need to patch her up now. I’m sure she learned her lesson.” There it was, the calmness anyone who had tasted Jihyo’s fury feared.

“Okay, but make sure you aren’t going to be nice when you do.” Tzuyu gives in, not wanting to aggravate her, already not very good, position with the nurse.

Jihyo cuts the call and turns just in time to see the problem-flippers turn back into the shoes the woman always wore. Nayeon just breathes in relief and Dahyun looks slightly disappointed, which both nurses silently agreed to ignore and never mention. They get to work and, just as she promised, Jihyo wasn’t the most gentle she could have been with the couple, who didn’t dare to question anything after Momo had whispered that if Jihyo looked calm they should be fearing for their lives.


	26. 26

To say Nayeon was distressed would be underestimating the situation by quite a lot, she had been distressed about six hours before, right now, she was something else entirely. The reason was simple, they were having Sana over for the first playdate in months, so far Jihyo had been too kind to have her children over, and even allow Jackson to take the girls out by himself, even with Dahyun on occasions. Jaebum was still full of reservations about everything, but he knew his wife would be the first one to pull out if things started heading south.

Jihyo was full on mama bear, and everyone who had seen her with her kid knew perfectly well that she will not hesitate to cut a bitch. Jaebum was more on the plotting and scheming side, he would get angry, but make the person punish themselves rather than just punching someone’s face in. Very Jigsaw style, but still subtle and enough for him to be exempted if anything got out of hand. And Sana was, despite certain deities, their only daughter.

What got Nayeon past the point of no return, however, was that her mother just decided to show up at her house, claiming she wanted an update on the Im Corp. and was refusing to wait for a shareholder meeting, as the woman really held no power on the company and Nayeon made sure her team owed nothing to her mother. So, the woman was having one of her selfish fits, stomping around her daughter’s house and demanding to be filled in on every single thing that was happening in the company she never really held any control over.

Dahyun, on the other hand, was doing her best, along with Jackson, to keep Mina busy and as far away from her grandmother as possible, particularly to prevent the girl from saying a word about her cousin coming over to spend the weekend. Mainly because said cousin would be arriving with two real deities and was the child of a man old lady Im had banned everyone from speaking of. 

“Mother, you can come to the shareholder meeting at the end of the week, and all your questions will be answered.” Nayeon tries her best to not snap at her mother.

“I want you to answer my questions now.” The woman insists.

“And I have already said I will not talk business in my house. This is where I’m dedicated to my family, and not a single conversation about the company will happen here.”

“This is not how your father taught you.” The old woman scowls, each word laced with venom. “He was a great businessman, he worked every day.”

“I know, and that’s how your family went very wrong. Now, mother, I will not repeat myself further. Please leave, and wait for the meeting like everyone else. No business will be discussed in this house and that’s final.” 

Nayeon then grabs her coffee mug and leans back into her office's chair, stating that the conversation was clearly over. Sure, she had an “office” in her house, but it was really just a room where she would take her mother whenever the old woman would show up. She shared it with Dahyun, who also had a policy of no work in their house. Mainly, it was a place for them to answer private calls and talk to people they didn’t want parading around their residence. It was right at the entrance, accessible by the entry hallway and whomever was brought there wouldn’t even have the chance to see so much as their living room.

Dahyun had dismissed the office room when they were building the house, but little did she know it would be the best choice they ever made, even better than going ahead with their arranged marriage. Old lady Im stomped around a little more before turning on her heels and storming out of the house, very colorful insults towards her daughter being whisper-shouted on her way. The driver, an old man that had been working for the old Ims for years, was already waiting by the door when the woman passed him, he threw Nayeon a sympathetic smile and left.

Now they could breathe easier, and Nayeon was left with the task to call Jihyo and tell her they could bring Sana. Dahyun made the point that she was the one to call them and warn about old lady Im, so her wife should be the one calling to give them the go ahead, which, the older one couldn’t really protest, as it made a lot of sense. Not only that, but had they arrived with lady Im around, things would get just too complicated for all involved. Who knows, maybe Jihyo would have to hide that body, afterall.


	27. 27

“Go and answer the damned door.” Dahyun hisses to her wife when the bell rings for the second time.

Nayeon gulps, knowing she shouldn’t leave Jihyo waiting, after a few conversations with Chaeyoung and, especially, Momo, she learned to fear the small woman properly. Not that it was a bad thing, not at all, herself and Dahyun just got a whole new level of respect and will to obey the woman. Particularly after an episode Chaeyoung narrated on how Jihyo got her to stop trying to be hipster during college, but that’s a story for another time.

When the older woman reaches the front door, the bell is rung for the third time and she just accepts fate and opens it, only to be met with her brother looking a little irritated, but it seems she has nothing to do with it. Sana, Tzuyu and Gucci were running around her front yard, being loud and he just wanted them to greet their hosts properly before letting them out of their leashes. But, they were just too hyper about the sleepover, and Jaebum was just about giving up on life as a whole when his sister opened the door.

“Nayeon.” He greets, honestly trying not to sound too rude.

“O-o-ooppa.” Nayeon stutters, wincing when her brother’s expression hardens. “Come on in, Mina has been restless.”

Jaebum simply nods and proceeds to call his kids before entering the house himself. That was certainly NOT something Nayeon had ever expected to happen, have her brother in her house, sitting on her couch and drinking the coffee she made for him was an event she could only experience in her wildest dreams. Dahyun was surprised out of her seat when her brother in law entered the living room, expecting Jihyo to be the one there and simply receive a greeting from the door before the woman leaves, she was just trying to read through an emergency form she got handed earlier that day.

“Dahyun.” He states, proceeding to sit on the couch beside the woman.

“Jae-jae-ja.” The pale woman gulps, trying to buy some time to compose herself. “Jaebum, it’s great to see you. I thought Jihyo was the one coming?” 

He understands Dahyun is trying her best to get through her surprise while doing all she can to not be rude, it’s amusing, but he manages himself very well. Merely pointing at the TV, where the news of a pile-up are being shown, many victims, no deaths confirmed, Jaebum proceeds to explain.

“Jihyo got called in. Momo picked her up, they are both on duty.” He, then, turns to address both women properly. “Also, is it alright if Sana sleeps over? I have a shift tonight and Jihyo isn’t available anymore.”

“It’s more than alright!” Nayeon answers too quick and too loud. 

“That’s great, then. Chae has a gig tonight and Yugyeom is with me.” He chuckles at his sister, it’s been a while since he last saw her childish side. “Sana-Sana!”

“Yes, dada?” The girl pokes her head into the room, bringing herself to her father with Mina in tow.

Jaebum picks both girls up, and Nayeon has a hard time not breaking down in hysterics from everything. Nobody, not even her brother would have judged her for it, though. It was the first time in years she wasn’t shunned by her brother, he was sitting in her living room, talking normally to her and her wife, asking if his daughter could stay at her house, picking his niece up on his lap and smiling at her the same way he smiles at his own child. Needless to say, Dahyun was in for a long night.

“Sacchan, do you mind having a sleepover with Minnie today?”

“Can I?” Both girls light right up and the man laughs. “Can I really sleep here with Minnie tonight?”

“Of course you can, baby. I’ll come back tomorrow night to pick you up, it that okay?” Both kids nod their heads with the brightest smiles. “If you need mommy or daddy for anything, just ask aunties and they will call us, okay?”

“Okay papa!” Sana screams in excitement and jumps her father’s neck in a sloppy hug.

“Thanks uncle!” Mina says, and proceeds to hug his neck as well.

“No problem, now go play with Tzutzu, I bet she is lonely waiting for you two.” He puts the girls back down and they scurry away.

“Well, I have to get going. There is some house cleaning to be done before I leave for work. If anything happens, call me and I’ll be right over.” He says while heading out. “Oh, and feel free to dismember Tzuyu if she pisses you off. That one can be a handful most times.”

Nayeon and Dahyun follow behind and just manage to blurt out some quick goodbye before Jaebum chuckles and leaves, closing the door behind him. Both women are more than stunned from everything that just happened, they just stand there, too stunned to really function. Jackson had been watching everything from his place in a corner of the living room from the beginning, Jaebum did greet him and bid him goodbye, but none other than the two men seem to have registered that.


	28. 28

To say people get used to anything, be it good or bad, is one of the absolute truths of life, Momo and Jihyo have fallen victims of that and couldn’t, for the life of them, understand why there were so many staff members whispering under their breaths and quite a few confused faces around the hospital. There had been a pile up, people! Get your asses to work! Obviously, they didn’t really have the time to dwell on their frustrations towards their colleagues, especially now. Everyone who could be of help and wasn’t on the clock had been called in, and that’s how our two OB nurses ended up running around the ER and helping wherever they could.

Momo had specialized in trauma, before she decided it wasn’t really for her and specialized once more, this time in obstetrics. Jihyo, on the other hand, chose orthopedics at first, but switched to something with better hours once Jaebum and her decided to try for kids. So, besides not being willing to let go of such capable duo,the hospital knew they would never mind being placed back into their former departments when needed. 

Right now, we have the two of them in the same OR, assisting in a surgery on a young looking woman, she was rather tall and languid, but beautiful. It would be such a shame if this lady didn’t have the chance to live her full potential, and the team was damn sure doing anything and everything they could to make sure she would. What got the duo intrigued, though, was the looks the rest of the team had on their faces, sure there was the urgency and slight despair that came with any emergency surgery, but there was also a lot of confusion, bewilderment and disbelief.

“Okay, I know this is not the time, but I have to ask.” Jihyo didn’t resist.

“Hold this up.” The doctor commanded, nobody stopping their tasks, nor allowing themselves to get distracted. “What’s wrong, Park?”

“Well, Dr Chen, I’ve been noticing everyone with a confused look, and neither Hirai nor myself have figured out the reason.” She explains between little grunts, they were about to snap the patient’s leg back into place, and she was helping position it correctly.

“You two seriously haven’t noticed it?” Dr Lee, the trauma surgeon decided to chime in.

“No at all, Dr Lee.” Momo answers this time, Jihyo was already into the procedure. “We have been discussing it all day, but came out empty handed.”

“You two never fail to amaze me.” Dr Lee has true wonderment in his voice. “A woman with bunny ears has been walking around the ER all day and none of you have noticed?”

“What woman?” Momo asks again, seeing that Jihyo was out of the conversation for the time being.

There had been some aggravated damage to the patient’s left side, the trauma team was working on the upper body, while orthopedics was fighting to have this woman not lose her ability to walk. Sure, they talked about other things during surgery, but this specific team, was one of the best Korea had to offer, and off-topic conversation was one of their ways to keep focus. So they talked.

“Alright, we are about finished here.” Dr Chen declared after a stretched silence, where both teams were just focused on their own tasks. “Kim, prepare for suture.” The young resident gets startled. “Congratulations, you are closing up today.”

“Tha-tha-thank *ahem* thank you, ma’am.” The older ones chuckle at the kid’s nervousness.

“Don’t worry too much, Kim, just follow my instructions. Park is here too, she’ll carry you through it.” Dr Chen laughs, the ones that know Jihyo and know the truth to those words follow.

“You give me too much credit, doctor.” Jihyo tries to dismiss the compliment.

“Oh, don’t give me that, Park. You and Hirai over here should brag a bit more, you two earned it.” Dr Lee quips, never really removing his eyes from the patient. “We’ve been operating without having to tell neither of you anything, do you know the level of skill that takes?”

“Thank you doctor, but I’m sure we still lack a lot.” Momo is the one to answer this time.

“And that, dear newcomers, is the attitude that gets you to the level of skill these ladies find themselves at.” Dr Lee concludes, addressing the students and residents who were observing.

The two friends just chuckle, not really willing to stay on the subject, knowing there were more people for them to help, and both also wanted to go and see this bunny woman they had been hearing about. If it was, as they feared, one of Tzuyu’s companions, there was more trouble on the way, surely.


	29. 29

Turns out, having Sana like Mina so much, and getting the kids to Dahyun’s for a few days was the perfect option, Jihyo had found herself unable to leave the hospital as there were still a lot of patients to get to, and all the help was needed. Jaebum, on the other hand, had been scheduled to work all weekend, he would have to work a 48h shift every two months, it was to ensure there would always be somebody at the plant in case anything went wrong. So each section had their schedules for who would be ‘standing guard’ over the weekend.

Chaeyoung had a wedding the previous day, so she was out until Sunday evening, and Momo was stuck in the hospital with Jihyo. Youngjae, bless his heart, had been banned from being alone with Tzuyu by the deity herself, after a very uncomfortable and very pitiful attempt the young man made at coming onto the goddess. It was great that they had agreed to let the kids spend the weekend at the Ims, as much as that displeased both Jaebum and Jihyo, they knew they could count on Tzuyu to watch over her little Deer Priestess.

Momo had shot a message, the previous night, to Chaeyoung to pick up the kids on Sunday evening and take them to their house, nobody was at the Parks’ anyways. Jihyo already had enough to worry about without thinking her daughter was at risk of having a run in with Nayeon’s mother, who was the number one person on the nurse’s blacklist. Despite the daughter not being out of said list herself, she was making her way down steadily, hence, the sleepover, but none of the Parks were really willing to allow for much more than that at the moment.

“Ji, Chae called and said she’ll pick up the kids around three.”

“Thanks, Mo.” The younger woman answers, not looking away from the file in her hands.

“Hyo, when was it you went to sleep?” Momo gets concerned when she approaches and takes a better look at the other.

“Sleep?” Jihyo chuckles. “There is a fine line between sleeping late and not sleeping at all.”

Momo pauses and looks on in disbelief.

“Which I chose to ignore. There is still too much to get done and I can still keep going.” Jihyo finishes, looking a little deranged.

Momo has had enough, she promised herself she would drug Jihyo to sleep if she had to after the incident in college. She promised to never mention said incident aloud again as well, but that didn’t mean she forgot it. Momo would never be able to unsee the horrors of those three days and will never allow Demon Jihyo to come out again. Having said that, she proceeded to make sure Jihyo was out for at least four hours, that should hold her until they were off that evening.

“Jae, I had to knock her out, but she’s asleep for the next few hours.” Momo says into her phone receiver after tucking Jihyo in.

“Have I told you how much I love you?” The man answers with relief seeping through every word.

“Sorry, I’m married already.” The nurse laughs. “I don’t know the weird kinks you and Hyo have, but I’m not very sure Chae would be too willing for me to participate.”

“You know you could just have said ‘Love you too, Jae’, right?!”

“Now, what would be the fun in that?”

“Maybe you’re right, but I gotta go now, this bathroom break is taking too long already.”

“I forgot you are working too. Sorry about that. I’ll take care of her, don’t worry.”

“Thanks, Mo. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Momo swears she heard a ‘I knew it’ being whisper-shout just before the call cut, she merely smiles and goes back out, Jihyo was right, there was still a lot left to be done and she had already slept sometime during the evening. The woman would make sure to check up on Jihyo from time to time, but it was time to work, and try to spot the bunny woman everyone was talking about.

Sure enough, Momo was certain herself and Jihyo were being pranked by every single soul in that hospital, the mysterious pair of bunny ears are nowhere in sight and she gave up a few hours after she began looking. It was better to care for the people who were really there instead of chasing ghosts. On another part of town, however, we have a slightly lost and quite freaked out Chaeyoung, driving her car to pick up her niece and that weird goddess that was now a niece too.

She had seen the security car following her, not that they were trying to be subtle, the photographer was certain they were making sure she knew they were there. Just like Momo and Jihyo felt, she was certain that was somewhere she wasn’t supposed to be, too opulent and too stuck up for her to ever think of lingering around more than she really had to. Thankfully, it was fairly easy to find Dahyun’s house, no it wasn’t the modern design and lack of obnoxiousness compared to the other houses, it was Dahyun’s ridiculous purple car with yellow bumpers. Don’t get Chaeyoung wrong, she loved the woman, which didn’t make her friend any less weird.

“Yo, Chaeng Chaeng Chaeng!” Dahyun screams as she opens the door, going for the mandatory handshake between them.

“Hey Dubs! I’m here for the children.”

“We are baking.” The pale woman motions for inside. “Well, Jackson is baking, the girls swear they are helping and Tzuyu was banned from the kitchen.”

“Yeah, she’s banned from all the kitchens. She was eating the ingredients again?”

“And she was eating the chicken pie we were supposed to be having for dinner as well. So JackJack lost his temper and said he would not hesitate to follow aunt Jihyo’s advice and chop her hands out.”

“Well, aunt Jihyo usually knows best.” The photographer laughs as she kicks her shoes off and follows.

They head to the kitchen to find Tzuyu sitting in front of the door looking like a kicked puppy, technically she was, and Chaeyoung almost swooned, ALMOST. But knowing the goddess, she was likely to have eaten half of said chicken pie and wasn’t even sorry about it.

“It wasn’t half.” Tzuyu mumbles as the duo approaches.

“How much, then?” Chaeyoung asks, knowing the goddess had already read her thoughts.

“She ate almost all of it.” Dahyun answers fast, before she breaks out laughing again.

“I mean, how was I supposed to not eat it! Don’t make it so good, then!” To see a deity throwing a tantrum like a kid was something else.

“It’s good to know my food is that good, but aunt Jihyo told me to, and I will not hesitate to dismember you if you ever try this again.” The young man says, having come to check what the commotion was.

“Aunt Jihyo knows best.” Chaeyoung remarks, once again.

“And I’m already a follower of Gucci, don’t try me.” He warns, seeing there was an argument coming. 

“So, you guys are making a Gucci gang?” 

“Not worth the try, ma.” Jackson sighs, walking back into the kitchen.

Tzuyu lights up and follows, seemingly having gotten an answer to her unasked question. This mind reading thing came in handy from time to time. Nayeon shows up looking like death not much later, she had gone and gave her mother the meeting the woman had come over to demand the day before. She had called Kookie to ask about his opinion on the problem, and both agreed it was not in anyone’s best interest for the woman to just show up again, especially when Sana was over, and it was equally undesirable to have old lady Im on an official meeting as well.

With a lot of self coaxing, and a lot of Jungkook’s rambles about how bad of an idea it was to just let the old lady roam too close to shore, Nayeon called in a few of her trusted employees and put on a show of a fake meeting just to keep gaslighting her mother. There was no way she was feeding the old hag any real information, and she was certain the new goons were way too incompetent to really see everything they got was being fed to them meticulously. Sure, the entire team had been lured in with the promise of monday off and barbecue on friday, but nobody, none, not even Nayeon and Kookie themselves, could have predicted how much of their souls they would lose during those two hours.

“Well, you look sunny.” Dahyun comments as she kisses her wife and guides the woman to sit down by the counter.

“Girls, why don’t you go give Nayeonnie a big hug and lots of kisses?” Tzuyu whispers to the mini chefs, who look at each other and run to the body lingering by the counter.

Nayeon takes a few seconds to understand her shirt was being pulled down, and a few more to get herself to look at what was pulling her shirt down. She lets herself be sat on the ground, hugged and kissed until she is feeling healed. The others just smile at the scene and go back to talking dinner, Tzuyu feels a tingle on her antlers, it’s familiar and nostalgic, she can’t really place her finger on it, but gets distracted trying to get bread for dinner when she hears ideas being thrown around.


	30. 30

“Minnie!” Jihyo greets as she opens the door. “Oh, hey, Hyun.”

“Hey, Hyo. Thanks for watching Mina for the weekend.” Coming inside and kicking her shoes off.

“No problem, we love having her over. Plus, you are the one having lunch with Nayeon’s mother, I think that’s punishment enough for the month.”

“Please don’t remind me.” The shorter woman huffs. “But we have to take some employees out for barbecue tonight, so there’s that.”

“And Jackson didn’t want to stay with Mina?” 

“He has a date? I’m not sure, didn’t even know he was seeing someone.”

“Oh, they have been talking for a few weeks, seems like it’s their first real date, if you don’t count rushed lunches and a few rides home.” Jihyo throws nonchalantly.

“And how is it that you know of my son’s dating life more than I do?”

“That’s because he came to us with his worries a few times. Hey, Hyun, Minnie is already in Sana’s room and Tzu has been MIA today.” Jaebum greets as he passes the living room, heading out to work.

“Hey Jae, have a nice day at work.” Dahyun greets back.

“I will, knowing you two are having lunch with the old hag has me in a great mood since your call last night.” He says, waving goodbye, and leaving.

“You two are loving this, aren’t you?!” 

“You have no idea. We get happy every time we know you two have to deal with that woman. It’s spiritually healing.” Jihyo offers.

“Alright, Imma head out and try to get my wife calm and controlled enough so we can get to the restaurant.”

“It’s, like, eight? In the morning?”

“I know, I’m already running late as it is.” 

Both women laugh, they had been holding less and less of a grudge against Dahyun as they had been interacting more. Sure, Nayeon was still working for it, but Dahyun was out of the undesirable list already, they even found her funny every now and then. After the stunt Nayeon had pulled last sunday, old lady Im decided she wanted to probe more, and the couple had to call everybody back to coordinate stories and keep the façade. Suffice to say, now they had to take the team to a brazillian steakhouse for the evening, not that either minded, though.

“Oh, did you remember to pack Minnie’s swimming suit?”

“Shoot, forgot!” Dahyun looks really apologetic.

“Don’t worry, she can go with one of Sana’s. Jae is taking them to the waterpark tomorrow, Momo and I are working morning and afternoon, and Chae has some revelation tea thing, so we thought it would be easier to take them out.”

“Oh, yeah, Chae told me. I must be really getting old, these things the young ones come up with make no sense to me.” The smaller woman laments.

“Chaeng said the couple is older than Jae, though.” Jihyo lets out a bark of laughter at the face she receives in answer. “I don’t know what you people do in the high society, but if Chae is getting paid, no complaints here.”

“Oh, don’t lump me with those weirdos.” Dahyun chuckles. “I’m not throwing any of those ‘let me show you how I throw my money away’ parties.”

“Says the woman who thinks driving a purple five-hundred with yellow bumpers is ‘hip and cool’.” 

“You love my car and you know it, a little less envy would be good for your soul, mrs Park.” 

“Alright, go back to calming your wife for the lunch with the in-law.”

“You love rubbing salt, don’t you?!”

“Your wife did me the favor of never having to see that woman in my life. That’s about the one thing I thank her for.” Jihyo says with the ghost of a smile on her lips.

“Okay, that gave me the energy I needed. I mean, I knew you were a softie, but this was something else.” Dahyun says when she is a safe distance from the other.

“You know what, I might just pray for Gucci. Watch your back, Im.”

“Like you didn’t just reveal yourself a teddy bear, Park.” Dahyun hurriedly enters her car and leaves after that.

Jihyo chuckles and goes back inside, she was about to start preparing the ingredients for lunch and try to plan what she would make for the group to take to the water park the next day, she was hoping to get Jaebum to go shopping on his way home. Mina and Sana were running around the house with Gucci, and Tzuyu was still nowhere to be seen, but seemed to still be committed to giving the girls whatever they wanted, asboth had ran through the kitchen with some power rangers helmets she was certain she never bought and Dahyun certainly didn’t bring.

“Tzuyu, you better show up.” The woman speaks into the empty kitchen in an increasingly calm voice.

“Hey, Ji. What’s up?” The goddess pops her head through the kitchen ceiling.

“Where have you been all day?” 

“I was walking around and exploring town. Missed me?”

“You know, go back to wherever you were.”

“C’mon Ji, stop being like that. You know you love me.” Tzuyu taunts, she knows Jihyo was just worried about her, and is in no danger at the moment.

“I always worry when you are not in my line of sight. What are you doing?” Jihyo asks while being cuddled by the deity.

“Sure sure. Now be quiet and let me cuddle you.” The goddess says as she tugs the nurse a little closer. “Everyone knows you are just a teddy bear and wants to be cuddled.”

“You are lucky the girls are home, and I don’t want them learning how to dismember a body yet.”

Tzuyu chuckles at that, but doesn’t release her hold. Jihyo huffs, trying to look annoyed, but fooling nobody, they remain like that, as the goddess knew she had already finished everything there was to do and the girls were playing peacefully somewhere in the house. Gucci was looking after the kids, Jihyo could let herself be pampered for a while.

With a soft smile, Tzuyu moves both to the couch, her mind still occupied by the familiar presence that had been calling for her for a while now. The presence had only grown stronger and she needed to find it. Maybe the time away from the feeling made her a little rusty on pinpointing it, but she was certain it was near, so close she could feel it all around her and it made her entire self ache for it.


	31. 31

Jihyo and Jaebum wouldn’t say they were welcoming Nayeon into their lives already, but it’s been a couple of months now, and they had to admit the woman was doing her very best to show them she was very regretful about her past self and had grown into a whole new person, who knew exactly where she stood. So, the couple had told her they were alright with her visiting now, it was no walk in the park, don’t get them wrong, but Sana, Mina and Jackson weren’t being separated in this lifetime and they might as well just start dealing with the Imcident already.

And that brings us here, to a lovely afternoon, the kids were playing in the front yard with Jackson (Tzuyu had vanished again, she’d been doing that lately), Momo and Jihyo were about to arrive from their shift with the meat for the barbecue, Youngjae was running late with the drinks as always, Chaeyoung was battling the grill and refusing any help claiming ‘she got this’ (she didn’t, but they just left her to it). All of these activities bring us to Jaebum and Nayeon, sitting on the porch of the Parks house, each the furthest away from the other as they sat on the weirdly comfy bamboo loveseat placed there.

“I don’t really hate you, you know.” Jaebum sighs, seeing how his sister was at the edge of breaking into tears, it was interesting how he still knew her after so long. “I do resent you, and I can’t just let you slide for what you did to Jihyo, but I don’t hate you.”

There is a moment’s pause, and then some loud sobbing. He knew Nayeon would break down as soon as he spoke up, but can you blame the man for hoping she had grown out of her habit of crying about just everything?! The woman started rambling something nobody but herself could really understand, all Jaebum got were bits and pieces of not knowing something, a discovery, something about Dahyun and horse gear (he really didn’t want to know about that one), and just more incoherent rambling.

“You are lucky Jackson got the girls wrapped around his finger, or this would be much worse than just Nayeon ugly crying.” A voice comes from beside them.

Both turn, surprised, to see that Momo and Jihyo had arrived, the taller woman looking like she was already showered, if the hawaian shirt, short shorts and flipflops were anything to go by. Jihyo was still in her work clothes, they really didn’t wear scrubs out of the hospital, but the clothes they wore to get there and back had that ‘I won’t hesitate to restrain you’ aura in them. 

“Oh, hey love. Hi Ji.” Jaebum jokes, getting up to hug Momo before kissing his wife welcome.

“You two be careful now, I will not hesitate to take Chaeng and Sana and run away.” Jihyo mocks, accepting her husband’s hug. “And you know they would come with me in a heartbeat.”

“That, I can’t deny.” Momo chuckles. “How about you take Nayeon inside, she’s still ugly crying. I’m sure Ji won’t mind using Sana’s shower so you two can talk better.”

“I sure won’t, just let me get a change of clothes and I’ll leave you two to it.” The nurse places a soft kiss to Jaebum’s cheek and pats Nayeon’s shoulder as she goes inside.

Momo makes herself busy with the supplies they had just bought, there were some things Jihyo had picked up for her own house, as they were already in the supermarket, so she decided to start by putting those away while the woman finished her shower. While the others were busy with their own activities, the siblings found themselves in Jihyo and Jaebum’s bedroom, much like the rest of the house, it was very homey but still humble, which brought a sad smile to Nayeon’s lips.

“Don’t go on pitying me now.” The man knew what his sister was thinking.

“I’m not, I’m pitying myself.” She lets out a bitter chuckle. “You are happy, truly happy, and my idiotic and selfish self had thought you would be miserable when you saw what you were losing when you left. But I was the only one losing anything.”

“I blame myself for part of it.” He’s caught the woman’s interest. “Don’t look like that, I raised you. It’s normal that I feel responsible about how you turned up, despite my best efforts.”

“I’ll have you know, the brat was mother’s fault. Don’t be too hard on yourself, you made me the woman you see today.”

“It’s a relief to know that, I questioned my skills as a father a lot, when Sana came into our lives. It took Jihyo a lot to help me through the doubts, and she was pregnant too.”

Nayeon feels like she just got punched in the gut, she really preferred if that was the case. Sure, she knew what she did was the lowest, but she never really grasped the full ramifications of her decisions, it came as a little part of her dying when she heard that. To think a great man and an amazing father like Jaebum doubet he was anything less than the best, because of her own selfishness and her own inability to accept he wasn’t her property back then.

“No crying.” He reprimanded before she could let the first tear out. “You lost that right when you chose to do what you did.”

The woman finches, not that she wasn’t expecting it, but the tone Jaebum spoke on sent a chill down her spine and she felt her heart clench and her stomach turn in the worst way she had ever felt in her life. He was hurt, resentful and ultimately hollow, all the years of unspoken feelings seeping through every word that came out of his mouth, an unbelieving and slightly disgusted expression playing on his features. 

“I-”

“You don’t have to say ‘sorry’ again.” He cuts in. “I know you regret it, you’ve been showing it enough. And it does show that you are trying.”

“That I really am.” Nayeon lets out a bitter chuckle.

“You do know you have to work things out with Jihyo too, right? I will not hesitate to throw you all out if she says so.” Jaebum turns to look at his sister at that. “I know Sana would be sad and all, but trust me when I say, she would get over it and you would never catch a single glimpse of us again.”

There was so much truth and so much finality to her brother’s words that the lump in her throat felt like a basketball, and didn’t feel to be going away so easy this time. 

“Take your time, I don’t want the girls seeing you like that. The bathroom is that door over there.” Jaebum says, getting up and pointing to the other door in the room. “If you feel like a shower, take whatever clothes you want, and there are towels in there. I’ll leave you to it now.”

With that, Nayeon is left by herself, she finally lets the waterworks begin, Jaebum was right, she had no right to cry for what she did, but was very grateful that he could see through her so easily and gave her the time to do it regardless. Her big brother was always looking after her, even after everything, and she couldn’t possibly ask for a better man to have her back, Jackson got pretty close, don’t get her wrong, but that was her son and she was the one to have his back (stubborn and nonsensical, but this is Nayeon, remember?!).


	32. 32

The doorbell rang and Jaebum grumbled unwilling to get to his feet, but got up anyways. It was early in the morning, Jihyo had just left for work and the girls were still asleep, he just wanted to laze on the couch for the few hours he still had before having to take Sana to school and get to work. Guess there were other plans he hadn’t been warned about. 

He opens the door to she a tall, beautiful and bunny eared woman, obviously, he shuts it immediately and goes back to the couch to pretend he saw nothing. Surely it didn’t work, because there was insistent ringing and loud calling now. As expected, it woke Sana up and Tzuyu, the clingy pupper she was, followed right after, the girl just climbed her father and looked at him with curious but amused eyes. The goddess, on the other hand, didn’t have that kind of self restraint.

“Are you gonna answer that, or do we all just suffer?” The deity asks, visibly annoyed.

“I already did, but she won’t go away.” Jaebum huffs out, sitting up to play with Sana.

“And I have to suffer because of it? Go answer whomever is out there and give me peace!” 

That’s when Jaebum gets pulled to his feet, barely having time to secure his girl before both are being pushed to the door once again. Welp, might as well just take another one in, not like two deities were already too much or anything. He just motions for the woman to get in and places Sana down in the living room, telling the girl to play a little until breakfast is ready.

“Tzu, you have a visitor, just be a good host and talk to her while I make us all breakfast.” Jaebum makes sure to call Jihyo about it so she could count one more for the groceries.

“Jae? Babe? What’s wrong?” The nurse comes to the phone very worried and a little out of breath. She wasn’t allowed to carry her personal phone during work hours, so her husband calling the nurse station put her on high alert.

“Calm down, love, Sana is fine and I’m fine too.” There is a relieved sigh on the other side. “Something did come up, though.”

“Do you need me to go home? I think I can get there in an hour or so.”

“I need you to breathe for me, hun. No, you don’t need to come home right now. Another goddess appeared and I thought I should let you know right away. It’s a bunny this time.”

“So the bunny woman was true!”

“What?”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you, but there were rumors about a woman with bunny ears roaming around the hospital the other day. Momo and I couldn’t find her, so we just thought it was a mass hallucination, it was the day of the pileup afterall.”

“Oh.” A small pause from Jaebum to process what was going on. “Oooh, so, yeah, she’s here. I’ll just leave her with Tzu when it’s time to take Sana to school, don’t worry, I can fix lunch for both, but I need you to get more groceries if we are making dinner.”

“Alright, will do.” Jihyo agrees easily, not much use in arguing about goddesses again. “Good luck and have a nice day at work. Give Sana a kiss for me.”

“Will do. Love you, later.”

“See you.”

And they hang up. Jihyo is much more relieved at this point, a call in the beginning of a shift from home, knowing she left everything in order when she went out to work, her thoughts ran through the worst scenarios possible. But another deity? That was certainly nothing to worry about….. Right?! Sure Tzuyu and Gucci were already headache inducing by themselves, but, maybe, this new girl could tame them.

Right?!

“Hey, Ji! Something happened?”

“Hi, Mo, looks like the bunny woman was real after all.”

“What? How did you confirm that?”

“Looks like she is in our house. That’s what Jae was calling for, he asked me to get more groceries on the way back.”

“Well, good luck with another one. But we should start heading down, Mrs Choi is already being prepped and I have to check on the post ops.”

“Oh, right, today is c-section day. Well, we have a lot to do and there is never enough time. Let’s go and bury ourselves with work already.”

Both nurses giggle at that and make their way to the ‘delivery’ rooms, talking about anything and everything. It was a busy day, but if everything went well, they should be able to manage the entire schedule.


	33. 33

“What’s up with you and goddesses?”

“Well, hello mrs Hirai Chaeyoung, it is lovely to see you today. I’m rather well, thank you for asking.” Jihyo says bitterly, maybe too bitter?!

“Alright, did something happen?” Chaeyoung looks at Momo who was getting into the passenger’s seat.

“Your period shouldn’t start for another two weeks, this can’t be PMS, and I know you had a good day today.” Momo questions, she knew they had synched back in college and never fell out of it since.

“It’s not that, but now that you mention it….” Jihyo starts thinking deeply about something, her older friend seemed to have guessed.

“Wait, you’re pregnant again, aren’t you?” The other nurse isn’t really asking.

“I can’t be. After Jinyoung it should be very difficult.”

“You, my dear, have two deities in your house. One of those grants your daughter each and every wish the girl might come up with.” Chaeyoung says, a wide smile. “Do you really think Sana couldn’t have asked for a little sibling? Especially being with Mina and Jackson all the time?”

“It’s not out of the realm of possibilities.” Jihyo ponders. “I should get some tests at the pharmacy, though. There is one beside the supermarket, and looks like we have one more goddess now, so I need to get more food.”

“Are you a sleeping goddess or something? How come you attract so many deities?” The photographer aks, genuinely intrigued.

“Maybe I am, Chae. We’ll know at some point.” The younger nurse chuckles.

The three fall into easy conversation, Momo and Chaeyoung very excited at the possibility of being aunties again, Jihyo slightly worried (she had been since the misscarriage) but also happy to have the chance to try for another child again. 

On another part of town, a war was bubbling up, and Nayeon was the one stirring the pot. Dahyun was the supportive wife as always, and Jackson was already helping his younger mother draw a contingency plan, unofficially, that is, none really wanted Nayeon to know her mother had been trying to kill her for years already. Not that anyone really liked old lady Im (not even little Mina enjoyed her time with her grandmother), but it looked better for the board when Jackson was the one coordinating his mother’s protection operations, and not Nayeon up her own mother’s throat.

Im Nayeon wasn’t a fool, nor was she blind, don’t get her wrong, she knew exactly what was happening, and she also knew the board used to eat in her father’s palm, but despised her mother, the woman showed them time and again that she couldn’t be trusted with the future of the company or she would drive it downhill headfirst. Everyone was a bit skeptical when the youngest Im was announced the heir, they knew there was an older son, but nobody could find a single trace of the young man anywhere, and she had to grit her teeth and grind through those torturous few years.

Jaebum had been exceptional and trained from childhood to be the perfect businessman, he knew the company inside out, and had been raised and educated to take over and lead them to an even greater success. Nayeon had been raised to help her brother, but was shielded from the inhuman part of the business world until the Imcident, she couldn’t blame anyone but herself, really, she was naive and spoiled, never had known any of the truths and horrors lurking just beneath the surface. It was only when she was faced with them that she understood the true love and dedication her brother had put into raising her, and felt like the worst woman alive.

There was only one thing going through Nayeon’s mind after that, she was set on taking over everything her father had built, shutting old lady Im out for good and winning over the entire board so she could return to her brother everything she had taken. She started from the bottom, hand picking each and every employee to work for her company, making sure none of the old directors would notice. She switched all the employees she didn’t trust, except the ones who worked for her mother directly, not drawing attention was crucial. 

A few weeks prior the last member of the board of directors had stepped down and placed his daughter on his previous chair as the director of foregin affairs. A young woman fresh out of college, Kim So Jung, a tall and bright beauty but, most importantly, Nayeon’s junior who had a deep friendship with the woman even before they got involved with their parents’ businesses. With that, the young Im had the trust and loyalty from each and every employee in her company, her mother’s goons had been chased out long before, and Jackson had been keeping a close eye on their activities.

This was the main reason for old lady Im’s erratic visits, she had lost her eyes in the company and had started to panic a little, making herself even more sloppy than she already was, and everybody was seeing it, Dahyun may or may not have had something to do with that, not that she would ever admit to anything. And it was time to start giving back to Jaebum, the man had gone through enough and was the heir to all of it, even if he would outright deny everything when asked. He was a Park now, not an Im, and wanted nothing from the people who hurt him so deeply, who tried to hurt his wife so badly, who he would never allow to get close to his daughter even if he would lose his life in the process.

“So, tell us, Yeonnie. Why are we here and why did you message our private numbers for this?” Jungkook, one of the few who were already comfortable enough to talk to Nayeon as an equal not as his boss.

“First off, fuck you, Kookie! I know we still have a few members who aren’t that comfortable with me, but I’m not about to let you pretend to be cool talking to me like I’m a brat, because anyone here can do that and they will find out soon enough.” Nayeon bites back, no real malice behind her words, just the playfulness in calling out her friend.

“And here I thought Jungkook was cool for a second there.” Hwang Eunbi, the finance director decides to join in.

“See? That’s why I say you are all a bunch of losers.” Kim Jisoo, marketing director, she likes to pretend to be cool and down with the kids. And that’s exactly what she is called out on.

“Oh, come on, Chae. We all know you like to sleep in those ‘very badass’ animal onesies.” Nayeon mocks back. “And don’t even try to tell us it’s because of Lisa, nobody is believing you.”

The woman just huffs and sulks in her chair, the playful banter goes on for a while longer, they were friends, and Nayeon needed them very relaxed for what she was about to ask them. She knew none would really disagree with her decision, she had been talking about it for long enough, and it was only fair.

“Are you going to tell us what you wanted to talk about, or do we keep wasting precious sleep time?” Sowon decides it’s time to get to business. “You didn’t call us all over in secrecy to play around.”

“You all know me too well.” Nayeon concedes, not like she could back out now anyways. “So, you know how I’ve been trying to get my parents’ influence out of this company from the day I set foot here, right?”

“Not like your mother ever had any to begin with, but we know what you are trying to say.” Jungkook chimes in, met with hums of agreement.

“So, we have finally took over for our parents, and I’m here to ask for your permission to make things right.” 

“You don’t have to ask us if you can give your brother what was taken from him.” Gong Minzy, HR director, she had taken her father’s place even before Nayeon had joined. A silent woman with a deadly tongue. “We all know how that eats you alive every day, and nobody here is against it. We know Jaebum is likely to refuse anything from this company, but you are free to try as you wish.”

“And you want to leave something for your niece, even if that means you’ll have to go over him for that.” Chaeyoung cuts in before Nayeon could speak. “Just go on and do what you have to do, Yeonnie. If he agrees to come in, we will welcome his skillset, if not, you do what you can to make amends with him.”

“Thank you.” Nayeon can’t hold back any longer and starts sobbing away. “Thank you.”

The board of directors, Nayeon’s friends,take turns to hug her and slip away silently, leaving Dahyun who had just arrived to care for her mess of a wife. It was definitely a great day, until the pale rapper-wannabe dropped the bomb.

“Yeonnie, hun, I know you are very happy, and I would love if you could keep that energy.”

“Alright, why do I feel like you have awful news for me?”

“Because I do.”

“Let me go to the bathroom and fix myself a little, then you can tell me.”

Dahyun just kisses her wife’s forehead and makes herself comfortable on a chair to wait for her. It didn’t really take long, the woman still looked like a mess, but what else was new. Better to just come out and say it, she would need to know anyways, and they wouldn’t be able to take care of things by themselves this time, despite their best efforts.

“Okay, I’m decent.” Nayeon says as she sits beside her wife.

“Oh, honey.” Dahyun kisses her lovingly. “You are really not. But that’s not why I’m here.”

“You are lucky you sound like some terrible news are coming, or we would be having a different conversation.”

“I know, I know.” Dahyun huffs and draws her fingers through her hair tiredly.

“Just say it, we both know you are terrible at sugar coating things.”

“Fine, your mother has hired a detective to find Jaebum again. She intends to make him disappear for good and his entire family with them. Jackson and I are already making our move, but this time she has been going around places herself and trying to find them.”


	34. 34

“Hyun? What’s up?” Jihyo asks lightly, she was shopping with Momo and Chaeyoung, well, she was in the same market as them……. She thinks.

“Hey Hyo.” She sounded worried. “I have to talk to you and Jae, well, we need to talk to both of you.”

“Sounds serious. Come to the house, we’ll have dinner and you can tell us what’s up.”

“Will do, we are leaving work now and should arrive at your place in about two hours?”

“We’ll be waiting. But don’t strain yourselves and drive carefully.”

“Will do, thanks Hyo.”

They hang up and now Jihyo is very worried. Despite anything, she knew Dahyun would never sound like that without reason, and that Nayeon would put her own life on the line to protect them, be it for the love for her brother or the guilt for her past actions, and this very serious sounding phone call meant something not so good was happening. Might as well just have everyone over and up to date on things as they happened.

“You done, Ji?” Momo asked when Chaeyoung and her got out of the supermarket and found Jihyo sitting by the entrance.

“I’ve been done for quite a while. But looks like something came up on Nayeon’s side, so they are coming over for dinner to talk to us, and so are the two of you. I already messaged Youngjae and he’ll be over as soon as he can.”

“Alright, mind if we drop by our house first? We’ll take a quick shower and get going.”

“Of course not, and you two can put your groceries away too.”

And so they head out, believe it or not, Momo and Chaeyoung were ready in less than twenty minutes, they took turns putting away the groceries while the other was showering and got ready to leave soon. There was a dry age experiment Chaeyoung had been working on, so they took that and Jihyo had texted Jaebum to start making the rice and get a salad going with what they did have, he answered that there wasn’t much for the salad, but he would start one with what they had anyways.

When they arrived, Jackson and youngjae were already there, suspiciously close to each other. Nobody had ever seen the two together, as Youngjae had been called in last minute to fix some error in the production line that needed him right away, last time they were all supposed to get together. The woman wasn’t that slow, no matter what Chaeyoung tried to say, it was obvious there was something intimate going on there, but she could just question her nephew later, now there seemed to be more pressing matters at hand.

Oh, and there was another goddess that just showed up that morning too, and that’s when the group reaches the living room, they find a new (stunning) face with bunny ears and very angered, looking at Tzuyu on the corner, sitting on her knees with her arms up and what appears to be a regretful face. None would know, Tzuyu never really regrets anything, and that’s what prompts Jihyo to just out and ask.

“Oh, hello.” The small nurse greets. “I’m Jihyo, these are Momo and Chaeyoung.” She points to the other two, who bow when their names are said. “I’m guessing you came here for that one?”

“Finally! I get to meet  _ THE _ Park Jihyo.” The woman stands up and barrels towards Jihyo to hug her.

“I’m that famous, now?!” Jihyo laughs trying to defuse the situation, Chaeyoung and Momo already losing themselves behind her.

You see, Jihyo was a bit touchy with new people, and she got very, very upset whenever someone she didn’t know invaded her personal space. Sure, she is a nurse, but treating someone was very different from a person she had never seen before just up and hug her like this. Jaebum was trying his best to signal to the bunny woman to let his wife go, but it looks like she wasn’t intending to listen to anyone but her own whims.

“Now that you are all here, I should introduce myself. Sit down, children.” 

Now that was it, Jihyo launched at the woman, aiming for the head without hesitation and manages to tear it off clean, the usual celestial light pours out of it, but that doesn’t stop her attack, nor does it stop the woman from talking, it was freaky (not the good kind), soon enough, limbs were going down the garbage disposal and the head was screaming at Tzuyu to help out, to which the other goddess argued she was grounded and told not to move from her spot.

Once everything was mangled and properly ran through the disposal, Jihyo controlled herself and came back to the head, who was watching her in sheer terror, the small woman looked completely calm and composed, even managed a small smile that brought chills down the spine of everyone present. 

“Now, you will start talking and you will not stop until I tell you to.” The small woman sounds like a tibetan monk at this point. “You will explain yourself and not leave a single detail out. Begin.”

What was the bunny gonna do? Say no?

“I’m Elkie, the hare goddess, hares, rabbits, doesn’t really matter, I’m that goddess. Tzuyu and I have been married for milenia now, and she knocked me out to sneak into the mortal world again, when I looked for her, I found she had two new disciples, who she made her priestesses and never went through the proper procedures. I came after her to get her to make things right before  Tiāndì decides to handle her himself, which he did promise to do after the japanese deer infestation in the 1700s.”

“Wait, hold up.” Jaebum, the only one who would dare to interfere right now chimes in. “You are telling me that was her doing?”

“Oh, yes, very much Tzuyu acting out like a teenager and saying that everyone would start praising the deer goddess if they knew more deer personally and understood how awesome they were. Not gonna lie, the rabbit problem you guys had around the same time was my doing because that one over there convinced me to follow.”

“Alright, now keep going, I still didn’t say you could stop.” Jihyo urges.

“Sorry. So, I came to try and do some damage control, but it was very difficult to find Tzuyu the closer I got, her presence is already set through this entire city, it’s hard to pinpoint her, one of the reasons I was at the hospital is because all of you emanate her and Gucci’s essences, they bestowed upon you all their greatest blessings, and that drew me in. I was also in their building, trying to find her.” She pouts towards Dahyun and Nayeon, who were sitting somewhere to Jihyo’s right. “And now I’m here. Gucci tried to warn me to be respectful, but I didn’t believe him and just went for it, guess I brought it upon myse-”

“Alright, that’s quite enough. So, Elkie, I’m Jihyo and today we learned that goddesses have to behave as well.” Jihyo cuts teh rambling, satisfied to know everything now. “And what’s up with you ear goddesses and showing up at my house?”

“I think I can answer that.” Tzuyu decides to talk, raising a shy hand and waiting to be allowed to talk.

It’s not that they just feared any mortal, but Jihyo felt like  Tiāndì, their presence too similar to be mere coincidence, but the goddesses had a silent agreement to never reveal that without the big boss telling them to. Nonetheless, the woman was seriously scary, I mean, who even dismembers deities like that.

“Go on.” The nurse allows.

“You see, when I decided to have Sana as my priestess, wherever she lives is my shrine, other deities feel drawn to it, as it’s a place of sanctuary and we all feel safe and welcome. I’m one of the goddesses of nurture, and my presence is comforting to all deities.”

“You are what now?” The incredulous look on everyone’s faces tells Tzuyu Chaeyoung wasn’t the only one wondering.

“I know, you all don’t really see me like that, but ask Sana or Mina. I am a goddess to her and Mina, but a friend to the rest of you, maybe that’s how your skepticism came to be. I nurture my followers, but I do admit I’m a brat to my friends and family.”

“That I can confirm, she is a nightmare when she warms up to people. I know, I married her, but it was something I decided on a whim, I was still young and infatuated by the tall dark and handsome mysterious woman who Tiāndì had chosen for me. Sure, it only went downhill from there, but how could I go against the Emperor of the Gods when I was told my wife had been decided?!”

When nobody answers, Elkie looks across the room and sees understanding on all the faces looking at her, there is sympathy and slight pity there too, but she decides to not focus on it too much. A quick look on the thoughts around made her at ease, she understood that these people were worried about her and they understood perfectly what both goddesses were trying to convey. 

“Alright, I should go and let your body out of the garbage disposal now.” Jihyo says as she places Elkie on a pillow carefully, and heads to the kitchen.

“Okay, now that one thing is out of the way, let’s eat and handle the serious stuff.” Jaebum declares, standing up himself and defusing the tension completely. “Now, Hyun and Chae, in the kitchen with me, Momo and Nayeon, look after the kids, yes that includes the two big kids. Jackson and Youngjae, just go out to the porch if you are going to keep eating each other’s faces up.”

“Alright, break!” Chaeyoung screams as she shoots up, Dahyun and Momo follow, giggling like idiots. 

“Just don’t burn the house down.” Jihyo pleads, coming back from the kitchen.

“We cook very well, excuse you.” Dahyun defends.

“I was talking about those four.” She points at the goddesses, Nayeon and Momo. “I can trust Sana and Mina, but I know they won’t be able to stop these buffoons when the time comes.”

“Oh.” The pale woman looks stunned for a moment. “Then yeah, don’t burn the house down.”

Everyone heads out to handle their tasks, Jihyo goes in to take a shower and use that pregnancy test that had been weighing down on her purse from the moment she purchased it. Might as well break it to everyone already, if it was the case.


	35. 35

Everyone must admit, Chaeyoung had a talent to handle meat (Momo could attest to that,but not the point), her dry aging experiment was delicious, and dinner had been filled with compliments to the small photographer, grunts and moans of satisfaction and a lot of cutlery clinking against the dishes. Until Jihyo deemed everyone relaxed enough to speak up, she knew there was something up when Dahyun called asking to meet up, the woman’s voice carried a lot of weight.

“So, I think I’m pregnant again.” Jihyo decides to just blurt it out.

“You what now?” Jaebum asked, a moment too long after he heard it.

“I think I’m pregnant again.” She repeats, looking at her husband with eyes dripping love and a big smile.

“You are. But still go in for the tests.” Tzuyu says, taking a break from her plate.

“So you were behind it.” Not a question, Jihyo had already considered it after all.

“Yes and no. Sana asked, I granted.” The goddess shrugs simply and goes back to eating.

Chaeyoung and Momo just keep minding their dinner, whilst the rest of the family is looking at Jihyo and beaming with happiness, the two girls just smiled at each other, Mina gave her friend a big hug and murmured ‘I told you so’ before both went back to eating their especially delicious meal. Nayeon, dear Nayeon, started tearing up, and there was this mix of pure happiness and sheer terror in her eyes.

“Yeonnie, you alright there?” Dahyun asked, worried her wife might have broken down.

“I’m alright, but we should talk about this after dinner, don’t mind me and keep eating.” The older woman waves their worries off and starts eating again, her face still a storm.

Once finished, they ask Tzuyu and Elkie to play with the girls in Sana’s room, Jihyo goes the extra mile and asks the goddess to soundproof the child’s room, to make sure nothing they were talking about could be heard. Both deities already knew of everything that was about to happen, and agreed easily, it was better if the girls were kept out, afterall. Nayeon starts talking the moment she hears the door close.

“Alright, so mother is after you.” 

“Who is after who now?” Chaeyoung asks for confirmation.

“Old lady Im decided to have Jaebum and his family gone for good.” Dahyun clarifies. “She has just lost her last connection with the company and is getting desperate.”

“And why would she come for us now? It’s been years, I don’t even have the last name anymore, there is nothing between her and I.” The man in question rages a little, held in place by his wife.

“I know.” Nayeon’s voice is small with a tinge of sadness. “She thinks I’m going to bring you back in and restore you to your rightful place.”

“And why would she think that?” He questions again, tamer this time.

“Because I am bringing you back. If you want, I mean.” The younger Im explains. “Sana is already a legal heir, and I will include your second child as soon as they are born. But I want to know if you and Jihyo want to take any part in the company, if not, I’m just writing you two off as beneficiaries and let you keep going as you were.”

“Ookaaayy…. And why are you doing any of this?” Jihyo asks, really taken aback by it all.

“Because, Jihyo, I know the mistake I made was just too grave and I’ve been trying to make things right. For that, I spent my years removing every last trace of father from that company before I could bring you all in.”

“And how did you manage that, exactly?” Jaebum is interested now.

“Easy, I began from the bottom. When you walked out, father wasn’t that happy about me being the one to take over, so he made me start off as the coffee girl and get to the top by myself.” Nayeon has a small smile as she recalls. “And start from the bottom I did. Father never really valued his employees, just the profit they could bring him, so I became friends with each and every one of them on my way up, then did the same when he would send me away to another unit just to start over. Im Corp is on the palm of my hand, and mother might have heard it from one of her informants.”

“I thought you said you have the company freed from their influence.” Momo chimes in.

“Oh, we do. You see, getting rid of her lackeys inside would only be a bother, she would sneak in new ones and we would go through the trouble of spoon feeding them information all over again.” Jackson clarifies. “It’s not difficult, but it’s tiring to start from the beginning each time. It’s a very tedious process, you see.”

“That… Makes a lot of sense, really.” Jaebum grants, scratching his head a little. “But what are the plans now, Nay?”

The familiarity she was addressed with makes Nayeon lose it there for a minute. Dahyun holds her hand a little tighter and waits until her wife is over the shock. None of them were expecting it, well, none but Jihyo who had been talking things through with her husband for a while. Momo, Chaeyoung and Youngjae look on with soft, satisfied smiles on their lips, Nayeon looks like she is about to start crying and Dahyun and Jackson look slightly panicked by the possibility.

Upstairs, the gods had been talking as well, the difference is, they didn’t need words and could keep playing with the girls, pay attention to what was happening downstairs and talk to each other without much effort. Gucci had it the easiest, Tzuyu had been reconsidering this whole humanoid thing….. Until she caught a particular thought from Jihyo and another similar one from Jaebum, which made the deity certain that showing up to Sana had been one of the best choices she could have made.

Elkie felt an overwhelming endearment for the humans her wife had decided to bless, they had been away from humankind for centuries, and she had forgotten how it feels to be revered by good ones. It was in their nature to feel captivated by these creatures, but, every now and then, the gods would come across some who were worth their blessing, and Tzuyu seems to have found herself a handful of them.

The gods had agreed to return to their realm soon, Elkie promised they would return once the little one would be born. Tzuyu did try to argue and stay, but Gucci made a good point when he reminded her their time was different from the humans’, what would be months for them should be a mere blink for the deities.


	36. 36

“Care to tell me why I’m being banished?”

“Hello, nurse Park. Good day to you as well, I’m great, thanks for asking. Why don’t you have a seat, want some water? Juice?”

“Cut it Hyejeong. Why am I being put on leave?”

Shin Hyejeong, the head nurse for the hospital, the one in charge. The one who would handle the HR and paperwork for all their nurses, and had decided, not finding any resistance from the higher ups when she brought it up to them, that Jihyo was going to be put on paid leave during her pregnancy. She was four months along and nobody wanted anything like last time happening again, and they would fire her if that was what they needed to do to keep the woman resting.

“Jihyo, would it kill you to treat me as your superior? Cause, you know, that’s what I am.”

“Oh, like I haven’t known you since you were that lanky freshman with bushy hair and clearly lost on campus.”

“And what did I do to get this kind of treatment?”

“You are punishing me without reason.”

“We, yes, we don’t give me that look. The director agreed to it as well.” The woman clarifies before continuing. “We don’t want you overworking yourself again, and seeing last time was enough for us all to learn, you are staying home until that girl is born and there is nothing you can do about it.”

“I need the hours, general.”

“And you will get them. You are on paid leave until you give birth, then you are on maternity leave.”

Jihyo merely smiles, she knows that if the directors have personally approved there was absolutely nothing she could do. 

“And we agreed that general Hyejeong had died in graduation.”

“No, I recall clearly that you begged us to let general Hyejeong go but nobody really agreed to it. Maybe Minnie did, but I don’t really think it had anything to do with her having a good heart.”

“You will not be talking about my baby like that, remember I can get my revenge easily.”

“I know, but you won’t. Don’t worry, though, I love Minnie….. You two should come by for dinner! It’s been too long and even Jae asked how you were doing.”

“We will. Not that you have the time, treat sus well, sunbae-nim.” Both women laugh. “Seriously, though. Go home and take care of that little girl, I want to be a godmother and neither Minnie or I will be allowing the Hirais to take the two of them.”

“You do remember Momo is a blackbelt, knows how to fake an accident and will not hesitate to murder for the godmother position, right?”

“I also know Chae is the clumsiest and sloppiest threatener that has ever roamed this earth and will ruin her plans without me having to move a single muscle.”

“Can’t argue with facts.” Jihyo laughs and stands to leave, might as well head home and catch some more sleep. “I’ll be waiting for that phone call, general Hyejeong.”

“It will come, but I’ll give you a couple of days to rest first. Go home, Ji, take care of the little one for all of us.”

They hug each other like long lost friends, which wasn’t really that far from the truth, and Jihyo goes back home. She was happy that her old friend was looking after her, and made the effort to take care of her despite being constantly swarmed with work, Minnie called complaining every once in a while, the calls had been more frequent lately. Jihyo promised herself she would get Chaeyoung to hand over one of her experiments for the dinner, the Hirais were going to be at the dinner anyways.

The small nurse set out to find Momo and bid the woman goodbye, who she found smuggling some snacks by the stairs, don’t ask. Soon enough, Jihyo was at the locker and decided to send out a chat message telling everyone she was put on leave, better let everyone know already. Said group chat now included a certain Im couple, Jackson had already been included months before, and was titled The Parks & co.

Dahyun laughed, they all knew Jihyo was a workaholic, the victim of her jokes just reminded her she was Gucci’s priestess and the pale woman decided that being silent was her best choice. Chaeyoung was happy to have someone she could bug about her meats, she had been really into experimenting with them and nobody had been as enthusiastic, Momo was supportive, from a distance that is. Nayeon just sent a thumbs up, but she had been swamped with making the Parks legal heirs and gaslighting her mother so she could get everything done before the woman could act.

Jackson never really checked his personal phone before he was done with whatever he had to do for the day, nobody really knew, and nobody really asked. So no real answer was being expected there. Youngjae said he would tell Jaebum, who was busy and very greasy at the moment, something about a malfunction none really wanted to know about. Jihyo laughed a little and finished getting changed so she could head home already.

The house was empty, as it would be at this time of the day. Tzuyu and Gucci had been gone for a while now, Jihyo could still feel their presence, they all could, Elkie had explained it was the gods blessings upon them all and they had been given some devine gifts, and would never be as normal humans again. The deities had promised they would return when the baby was born, but she couldn’t help but miss them. Gucci’s mood swings, Tzuyu’s adolescent crisis, the clumsiness both had towards anything that involved paying attention and the way both would brighten up their house just by being there.

With nothing to do, Jihyo slipped into her pajamas, closed her bedroom’s courtains, set and alarm so she could wake up to get Sana, and got herself comfortable for a good day’s sleep. She wasn’t really looking to have lunch, opting to catch up to those lacking hours of sleep instead of bothering with food, don’t worry, she ate when she arrived from the hospital, no need to wake up for that. 

Nayeon, Dahyun and Jackson had been busy, too busy. Dahyun took care of Kim co. and Nayeon was in charge of Im co. Jackson did what he did, and was under both companies. Sure, it was settled for both companies to merge in the future, but the young man had already said he wasn’t intending to take over, and had been working on his own company that was very successful, in fact. He had a high-profile security company, dealt with the rich among the rich who required a special and completely discreet type of protection.

Needless to say, having Kim-Im as his last names opened a lot of doors that would have remained closed otherwise, but he did make a name for himself and was beginning to get the recognition and respect he worked hard for. So, it was to fall upon Mina to handle things, but she would have two cousins to help her through it all, they all knew Sana wasn’t ever letting the girl go, and were certain both would take such great care of the little one (yes, she had a name, but Jaebum was refusing to tell anyone until the baby was registered), that the girl would follow them anywhere.

“Ma, I think we should make some more decisive moves about the old lady.”

“Jack-Jack! What happened?” Dahyun greets, immediately stopping all activities to tend to her son.

“She just hired some serious muscle to handle uncle Jae and aunt Hyo.”

“And how serious are we talking about here?”

“Serious like we don’t mess with them, they don’t mess with us, and we all pretend each other doesn’t exist to avoid a civil war.”

“That sounds very serious indeed. I’ll call Yeonnie over, we should talk to her about this as well.”

“Sure, ma. I’ll get us all some coffee and donuts, we’ll need them.”

While Jackson was at the family’s favorite coffee shop, a small shop, about three blocks away from the company, they loved the donuts there and the owners were so nice, they took their suggestions about which coffee blends to invest on to heart, and actually made one called The Ims. Jackson always loved being there and just basking in everything the shop offered, the smell of coffee, freshly baked goods that were eye-candy and smelled amazing, the homey atmosphere and sense of privacy the tinted windows and decor created. He took his time to get his mothers’ favorites pastries, three big The Ims and make sure he wasn’t going to lose sense of time in there, as it usually happened.

Coming back, Nayeon was already there and waiting, his mothers had made their way to the couches and sat looking very grimm waiting for the young man to return. Jackson understood, he was on edge himself and the women didn’t even know everything he knew yet. This sure was going to be a long week, and it was just wednesday morning.

“So, lay it on me and don’t hold back.” Nayeon mostly demands once they settle. “If it’s time to move, we’ll move without hesitation. I’m not letting them get hurt ever again.”

“Calm down, mom. Old lady is talking to the Thai. I think it was the Buramuk, if my sources are right. There isn’t much information yet, she has been seen with quite a few people, looks like the Thai finally accepted.”

Dahyun whistles and Nayeon looks completely unbelieving. Sure, old lady Im was desperate at this point, but none had expected the woman to stoop this low, there were some people they had agreed to steer clear from, and had agreed to the same in turn, all business, no heart feelings, no attachments, and absolutely no mingling. Much like her father, Nayeon, Dahyun and Jackson had official meetings with certain people to settle these rules, and old lady Im must have snooped out a few names from her husband’s office. The three had refused any involvement with those people, but old man Im had indulged them for a while.

“That calls for some more serious measures. I think it’s time for us to meet the Thai.” Nayeon decides and gets surprised and worried looks in return. “No, I’m not about to out deal my mother. I’m just being civil and giving them a heads-up about our moves regarding this situation. We all know we agreed to not mingle, but if they interfere, we are swinging back full force, and their boss should be warned about it.”

“You do have a point there, and I don’t have any info on high ranks meeting with the old lady.” Jackson ponders. “Maybe they don’t know themselves.”

“I doubt it. Thamuk is too strict to let anything happen without his knowledge.” Dahyun denies. “Then again, if they are sneaking around, maybe they think we are all blind to this. I’ll call, just give me a second.”

And the pale woman stands up to go retrieve her phone on her desk, Nayeon and Jackson just sit closer to each other and snuggle while waiting for the meeting to be set. Unexpectedly, they are told it would take place over dinner that day, and the man was on his way to talk to them himself, being very pleased about the call and the respect being shown. 


	37. 37

“Well, guess Minnie is going to have a sleepover again today.” Jackson breathes out. 

“Parks or Hirais?” The older woman questions.

“Well, aunt Hyo is on leave, so I’m sure she’d be more than happy to take her.”

“Then Jihyo it is.” 

“Well, good luck calling her.” The young man laughs, fishing his phone. “I’m calling in to have my team ready for tonight.”

“Fair enough, I’ll do it.”

And so she does, to say Nayeon was comfortable calling any of the Parks would be a lie, but they needed Mina to be safe, and nowhere safer than with Jihyo and Jaebum, they made sure of it. The conversation was a little tense, but the nurse had agreed promptly to take the girl in, and declared she would be staying until sunday and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it, to which Nayeon chuckled and said she would have to fight Dahyun about it later and was replied with a ‘bring it on’ before ending the call.

“All set?” Dahyun asks, getting a nod in response. “Let’s eat, then. We need some comfort breakfast right now.”

Jackson was still on his phone, but had already begun nibbling his cheesecake, the three fall into a comfortable ease, talking about nothing really important and enjoying each other while having their favorite coffee. Turns out, the day goes by much faster than anyone expected, except for Jihyo, who greets everyone with two cakes and some savory pastries, demanding the whole family comes inside to eat before they head out to whatever they were doing that required Mina staying over. Nayeon laughs on fondly, knowing the small woman must be bored out of her mind to force them into this early dinner and have so much food waiting.

And eat they do, the three knew very well that eating during these type of meetings wasn’t much of an option, and Jihyo was a heavenly cook, not that the eldest woman was about to admit it, Dahyun was, though and spared no compliments. Sana and Mina were just excited by their impromptu meeting, and munched away happily while watching cartoons in the living room. Jackson was, like always, very enthusiastic while talking to his aunt, which never failed to amaze his mothers.

Soon enough the Ims were at a very expensive and very elegant chinese restaurant, it was cordial to meet on neutral ground, and the chinese had no qualms with either side, so the Zhangs agreed to host. That meant that the head of the Zhang family would be present in the meeting, but would be there merely as a witness and not intervene before necessary. They talked business and understood each other rather quickly.

“Are you certain about this? Isn’t the woman your mother?” Buramuk asks, family was considered sacred to him.

“That woman merely gave birth to me, the maids made sure I was kept fed and clean, but my brother was the one who raised me my entire life, and I tried to take everything from him in my selfish rage. I was young and spoiled, but quickly understood how much he had done for me my entire life.” Nayeon’s voice was firm and unwavering something those who knew her rarely saw. “She intends to ‘get rid of’ the man who gave his life so I could live mine freely and I’m not allowing her to do any more damage to him than she has already done.”

“That is something I can respect.” The thai man says respectfully, mr Zhang silently agrees from his seat. “Well, I’ll take care of everything, just make sure your brother is out of the way and there is nothing to worry about.”

“Thank you. That woman has been playing her dangerous game long enough, and I can’t have my real family in any kind of danger. We are both very aware of each other, and I don’t really care for your business, we agreed on that a few years back, bu-”

“But this is out of line, I know. Those men are not under my orders, and I haven’t allowed for any of this. I’m not the kind of man to break good relationships for the sake of it.”

“And I thank you for that. I’ll try and pull them away but can’t promise too long. I might be able to take them somewhere until sunday, but that is about it.”

“That should be long enough, just make sure you are all seen by as many people as possible and get recorded, if you can. Things are going to be a bit ugly for them and you all will need alibis for your whereabouts.”

“I can make that happen, thank you. I’ll try to leave tomorrow morning, but if you can shadow us to be up to date it would be great, if we don’t have to inform ourselves things should look innocent enough.” 

“That sounds like an Im alright. I’ll have someone keep tabs and we’ll move as soon as you are all safely tucked away, we will make our move. Just make sure to take anyone who could be framed, friends, cousins, distant relatives. If you want them to be ruled out, take them with you, buy whoever you need to buy, just take them away.”

“Will do, thank you, sir. We should be taking our leave now, there are some phone calls we need to make to be sure to take everyone.”

They trade pleasantries and bid their goodbyes. Nayeon was the only one to speak up, as it was about her mother Dahyun and Jackson were there out of respect and formalities. None of them liked these things, but would follow tradition to a tee when the occasion called for it. The three of them headed out for the Hirais first, Jackson called Youngjae in the car (Dahyun was driving them all) and told his boyfriend to pack a bag to last until sunday and they would talk in the morning, his tone was enough for any questions to be put on hold.

Talking to Momo and Chaeyoung was a little difficult, the nurse was full on protective mode and wasn’t very happy to learn the people she loved were in danger, but they agreed to talk once everyone was safe on their destination and started packing away, Dahyun promised to handle Momo’s job and Chaeyoung didn’t have any shoots this week, just editing. The next step was a dread one, though, the Parks would be a challenge and Jaebum was sure to have a lot of questions. Jackson was handling Youngjae and Jaebum’s leave after hanging up with his boyfriend, both men worked together so he really just had to deal with one person.


	38. 38

“Are you telling us why we were brought all the way to the Shinhwa Theme Park when we could have just gone to Everland, or do we keep guessing?” Jaebum questions Nayeon once Momo, Chaeyoung and Dahyun are away with the kids.

“We needed to be as far away from Seoul as possible.” Is all the woman offers.

They had been brought all the way to Jeju island, Nayeon made sure that their airport appearance was flashy enough to raise a few eyebrows, but discreet enough to slip under her mother’s radar. Buramuk had instructed her on going by plane, more evidence of their absence in the big city. A few good pictures were taken with her and Jaebum obviously together, Jihyo strolling around very pregnant and Dahyun making a show of carrying Sana, Momo and Chaeyoung also clearly travelling with the group, the photographer carrying Mina and playing airplane (Sana hated airplane). All according to the script, the paparazzi got some great pictures of the long lost Im Jaebum and his family, and there was confirmation from the airline that they all had boarded. 

Jackson and Youngjae were flashier, though, also according to script, they were to throw the news outlets off the others, the eldest son of Im Nayeon and Kim Dahyun at the airport, accompanied by an older man who he clearly had a relationship with, was a spectacle. Jackson was known to be one of south-east asia’s most desirable bachelors, never caught in any controversy regarding his personal life, no past lovers that the public had ever known about, and he suddenly just shows up with a man on his arm, planting a kiss on said man’s lips in the middle of Incheon airport. That would certainly drawn out the heartwarming family show from earlier.

The arrival in Jeju was a very quiet affair, they had flown by private jet, making sure to exit through a private route and into nondescript minibus that had already been waiting for the party. It was important that they weren’t seen arriving there, Jackson was the one to draw attention with Youngjae a little later, making a show of everything, traveling commercial and being as lavish as possible. They gave the older man a wardrobe revamp, took him to a good saloon and god him looking better than ever, all to put on a show about this sudden reveal.

“Can we just leave this conversation for later?” Nayeon pleads. “Jackson and Youngjae aren’t with us yet, and we should focus on selling this family vacation really well. We can’t let it show that we are worried about anything at all.”

“She’s right, you know.” Jihyo interrupts as her husband was about to argue. “Look, let’s just have fun and go back to worrying when we get to the house and after we have eaten, showered and put the girls to sleep.”

“Fine, let’s just have fun, then. I wanna eat something.” The man relents. “Yeonnie, come and help out.”

“Why am I the one helping out?” Said woman questions dumbly.

“Are you serious now?” He asks with a blank face. But continues when there is no answer. “Jihyo is very pregnant and I’m not having her walk under this sun to come back with heavy loads.”

Nayeon grumbles something under her breath but gets up and follows her brother obediently. They were sitting under the shade in the area where the three little idiots were playing with the kids, nobody really suffering, as kids’ attractions weren’t that bad…… For Momo and Dahyun, that is. Jihyo took the time to check the news, and was pleasantly surprised when the pictures of Jackson and Youngjae popped up, her old friend had cleaned up really well, and looked at her nephew the same way she looked at her own family. Sure, Youngjae was a brother to her and Jaebum, but they would have a talk with him about Jackson if the young man had said anything to worry them.

“Looks like we are heading back earlier than expected.” Dahyun says as she approaches. “JackJack called, said they are locked out at the house, paps have been lurking around, and they agreed to just stay in and let us have fun with the girls.”

“How about we stop by a nice restaurant and get some takeout on the way back?” Jaebum suggests. 

“I’ll message Jackson and ask what they want. Get the girls and sit down so we can eat something.” Jihyo tells the pale woman and fishes out her phone.

They all eat happily, talking about nothing important, but Nayeon’s heart swells with happiness and she can’t really stop the tear that escapes her. The only one to notice is Dahyun, but is sensible enough to not say anything. Certainly, the press had surrounded the house they were staying at, everything was planned, including the place they would stay at. It was a modern looking mansion, the first floor was open with large windows and a big front yard. This was a show, and they were all going to play their part perfectly.

Jackson and Youngjae were at the front, looking a little desperate while trying to put together a tent they were planning to play with the girls in. It was a lovely and endearing scene, if you weren’t family, but the useless couple got laughed at by everyone, even little Sana and Mina, who told them it was okay and auntie Chaengie could do it for them. To which Chaeyoung took as an opportunity to further their suffering and proceeded to build said tent flawlessly, with so much skill even Jihyo was surprised.

“What?” The small photographer asks.

“It’s just a little unexpected.” Dahyun admits.

“Not if you knew how many times she took Momo camping back in college.” Jihyo offers and is met with all but four heads whipping her way.

“What? It’s not like they could be loud at the dorms, and I certainly didn’t have elsewhere to go, so they had to manage.”

“I did not need to know that last part.” Dahyun looks disgusted.

“Like you and tall Chae didn’t put me through hell during highschool.” Chaeyoung defends.

“Chaeyoung was my girlfriend and it’s not like you used your room that much anyways!”

“And Momo was my fiancè, your point is?”

“Can we back up a little and talk about this tall Chae?” Nayeon couldn’t hold her curiosity anymore.

“There is no need to talk about her.” The target tries to get out of the situation.

“There is every need to talk about tall Chae!” Chaeyoung quips, and prepares to badmouth her old friend. “She was the typical highschool it girl, tall blonde and a little bit of an airhead. Dubs here, was a thirsty ass rich girl and decided she needed to date someone she could show off to be that rich popular bitch.”

There is a pause, Dahyun was desperate, she knew what was coming and hated every second of the wait. Youngjae breaks first, a small huff of air escapes through his nose and it’s enough for everyone’s willpower to vanish. The laughter was too loud, Nayeon was hitting her brother, who seemed to have lost his last brain cell and wasn’t paying attention to anything around him, Youngjae and Jackson were wheezing and coughing, Momo was crying and Jihyo had to speedrun to the bathroom or she would have ruined her pants, damn pregnancy and reduced bladder capacity. The girls, who had been running around the living room, got curious and came to check, only to see JackJack be the one to lose control over his bladder and ruin his shorts (good thing they were black and the paparazzi didn’t get a shot) and started laughing too.

It was then, that Nayeon’s phone lit up, far away from the happy scene, a single notification, about one single message, that carried one single word, but meant the world to the people there. 

_ Done. _


	39. 39

No, old lady Im didn’t die, relax. But she sure would have been better off if she had. What happened was, the woman was being followed by the police, trying to validate a hint they got form a very powerful thai boss, who was untouchable by the law. The man had provided photos of a meeting between Im Jinhye, millionaire fallen from grace since her husband’s death, known for trying to meddle on her daughter’s life and have been escorted out of Im corp and Kim corp numerous times when trying to enter said companies without permission.

The police department hated the woman, really, she would resist being led out of buildings she screamed belonged to her, when her daughter was the one calling the cops to try and get her out. They were happy like kids in a candy store when there was a real reason to send that nightmare away for life, and wasted no time in tailing her, hoping an encounter would happen soon. Little did they know, they were about to arrest a group that had been plaguing narcotics for months too, the five who were working with the woman had been stealing from Buramuk and he despised treason with a passion.

Old lady Im was convicted of conspiring for murder, trafficing, leading a cartel (Buramuk threw a freebie and framed her for that too) and embezzling money from Im corp. That was enough to get her in jail for the rest of her life, and with her assets frozen, the big bad lawyers vanished, they didn’t want their firm nor their names related to any of that. Nayeon and Dahyun obviously denied help or involvement, their alibi steel solid, as were everyone else’s, so they were exempted from everything. Jihyo, Jaebum and Sana were the victims, and were being supported by Nayeon, Dahyun and Jackson completely.

When they had arrived in Jeju, the police had been tipped, and began their investigation. Jungkook called when the investigators showed up the next morning and was told to cooperate completely and give them access to everything. Risky, but it’s not like they had anything to hide, and their meeting a few days back had been properly hidden and there was nothing to worry about at all. Disclosing everything to the police would only help further prove their complete lack of involvement with whatever old lady Im was up to.

Once they landed from Jeju, it was already a media circus. They managed to get the girls away with Momo and Chaeyoung, while the rest posed for the cameras and answered whatever questions were being thrown at them and they could pick up among the screams. Tzuyu popped in that day, Elkie wasn’t too far behind, and both goddesses came to comfort Jihyo, Jaebum and Nayeon especially, they had taken it worse, being the focus points in all of this, despite the deities knowing things were only going to get better from there.

It did take a few months, but they were free from Im Jinhye for good faster than they could register and everyone was breathing freely in no time. True to her words, Nayeon made sure to include the Parks back into her family tree, she had to swear secrecy about the name Jaebum had chosen for their youngest, it was a surprise for Jihyo, but she wanted to make it official as soon as possible and made a mention to the girl, who would be included when born, on the official documents.

“And why are we keeping the name a secret?” The youngest Im asked, they were having some coffee, it had been their weekly thing.

“Because, sister dearest, it’s the name of Jihyo’s mother.”

“Right, and why haven’t we heard of Jihyo’s family? Like, ever?”

“Because she was raised by a single mother. Her father died in the army, a bad grenade accident where he saved his entire squad, they lived with his pension to help out, but Jihyo’s mom did have to work to be able to provide for her properly. The woman died from pneumonia on her first semester in college.”

“Oh.” Is all Nayeon could muster.

“Don’t worry, she’s not bitter about it, nor does she hold any grudges.” He pats his sister’s head.

“I bet she doesn’t. Jihyo’s heart is too big and she is too good to let something like this bring her down.”

“That, and she knows they went when their time came. No use holding on to what ifs, but always remembering them both fondly.”

“Everything makes sense now.” Nayeon exclaims as if she had just experienced a life-changing revelation.

“What makes sense of what, now?”

“Why nothing was ever even a question for you. Back when I found out, I let mother and father talk me into believing the things we had were important. You had already learned from Jihyo that none of that really mattered at all, and that’s why it was never a question when you turned your back and left everything behind.”

“Well, now you know.” Is all he says, and they bask in the silence while finishing their coffee.

“I just had a thought.” Nayeon breaks the silence after a few minutes.

“That would really be a surprise.” Jaebum chuckles and gets a glare.

“I’m being serious. If you don’t want Jihyo to know the name, how did you manage with the doctor? You kind of have to tell them the name, no?!”

“Yeah, that. Dr Lee knows, she swore secrecy, though. So I’m having to trust her on this.”

“I’m sure Jihyo will love it.”

“I think she might banish me to the couch for a while, though. That woman hates not knowing things, especially good things.”

“How about you tell her of that vasectomy you want to get, then?”

“I will. Tonight I will. Just got the go ahead from my insurance today.”

“That’s great, then. I must admit I’m kind of sad I’m not getting any other nieces or nephews.”

“You could always have another one yourself, you know?!”

“Yeah, no thanks. I already have two, and my eldest is giving me too many headaches already.” She lets out a dejected sigh. “How I wish Mina would be little forever, that way I wouldn’t have to fend off the boys and girls that will come running after her.”

“Trust me, Sana will chase them all away if she so much dreams that Mina felt uncomfortable.”

“I really don’t want to consider chasing my niece away, though.” Nayeon chuckles, a little dryly. “Don’t test me, Jae, I will fend her off when it comes to Minnie.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less from you.” Jaebum stands up. “Now, let’s get going, Jihyo will not hesitate to kill us both if we aren’t back in time for dinner.”

Nayeon couldn’t help the knot in her throat, the tears that were threatening to fall but she had been fighting to keep inside, the warmth in her heart and the loving smile that spread across her face. This was something she missed, just being with her brother, no need to have any plans or anything to do, just be in each other’s presence. She noticed it was something she had been missing even before her fit, they hadn’t done this since she entered highschool and her parents talked her into believing she was supposed to use her time to make connections and place herself within the ones they deemed important.

Now this was something she could get used to.


	40. 40

“Will any of you tell me now?” Jihyo demanded the second nurse Kim had wheeled her baby girl out. Met with headshakes in denial.

Only Nayeon, Jaebum and dr Lee knew the baby’s name so far, and none of them were present at the moment. Dr Lee was making rounds, had already dropped by and said she would be back the next day, as Jihyo had herself and Momo to handle things and the entire nurse crew was lowkey rioting to come over and take care of Jihyo. Exaggerated? Perhaps, but the entire hospital crew still had Jinyoung very vividly in their minds.

Jaebum was out, filing the paperwork for his daughter, and Nayeon had insisted on tagging along and heading to her lawyer’s office right after, so they could include the baby in the family tree right away, and they were in the prefecture already, she might as well just get all the official documents and hand them in already. Jaebum and Jihyo had just given up and accepted the woman’s stubbornness on the matter. 

“So, where is my baby?” Is the first thing they hear in a voice they missed dearly, with a familiar face popping through the door.

“It’s not your baby, you idiot! Now get in and make way, I want to see my baby.” Another voice they missed a little less followed.

“Just get in or she won’t stop blabbering, Tzu.” Jihyo sighs.

Chaeyoung and Momo jump to their feet and squeeze the goddess with all the longing that had accumulated throughout these months. Elkie just laughs, and looks on fondly, she might not have spent as long as Tzuyu in their presence, but both goddesses looked over them and came to the mortals they had fallen in love with through their dreams. Not what Tzuyu really wanted, but she had to make do.

All went on to talk about nothing specific, just happy that Tzuyu and Elkie had managed to come down and visit in person. Jackson and Youngjae arrived at some point, bringing Sana and Mina, who immediately jumped their favorite goddess the moment their eyes landed on her. Tzuyu was elated, she had a very hard time missing these little rascals, sure, she was watching over them and still granting their wishes, but was confined to the gods’ realm and unable to do as she wished.

Nobody really knows how long they were there for, until Tzuyu blurted out a question that had Jaebum handing his baby to his sister and silently dragging the goddess out of the room for iminent dismemberment. What did she do this time? Well…

“So, when do I get to meet Jeongyeon? Is the nurse coming back with her or what?”

Everyone pauses, they were hearing the baby’s name for the very first time and Jaebum was livid, the man was coming back to announce the name for everyone, and met dr Lee in the hallway, who told the nurse to just hand him the baby and let the man take his daughter back. He came in the moment that damn deity blurted out the one thing he wanted to tell everyone himself.

Gucci’s blessing was still working beautifully, apparently. In no time Jaebum was back to his family, taking his baby girl back from Nayeon who was still amused and looking over all the other occupants of that room. They all knew about Jihyo’s family, having come to the knowledge differently, but knew everything anyways. And Jihyo was just looking at her husband, all the love she could never put into words pouring out to this man who gave her his life, two beautiful daughters and, now, a gift she never thought she would get.

“You alright there, love?” Jaebum asks, still playing with his baby but approaching the bed to settle beside his wife.

“I-” Is all Jihyo manages before letting the tears stream down her face and engulfs that wonderful man (as best as she could, Jeongyeon still in his arms) and clashed their lips together.

“Woah, alright. Remember to keep it PG, though.” Chaeyoung had to be the one to ruin it.

“Fine, but just because I want the girls to be introduced to Jeongyeonnie.” Jaebum laughs as he detaches from Jihyo. “Sana, Mina, come here.”

The girls turn their attention to the man, and notice the baby for the first time, they had been busy playing with Jackson. Jaebum tells them to be quiet, and explains that the baby would get scared with loud noises, then backons both girls closer as he crouches carefully.

“This is Jeongyeon, Sana’s new little sister.” Then he turns to Mina. “She is your little cousin, Minnie. Can you girls promise to take care of her and help her as she grows up?”

“Yes!” Both girls say a little too loud, and shush each other immediately after.

The adults chuckle, and Tzuyu approaches with nothing but love in her eyes. They knew the goddesses had probably sneaked out to come and see the baby, so Jaebum hands the little girl over. Elkie comes along as well, and both deities place a soft kiss to the baby’s forehead, a soft and warm light engulfs the three, then the entire room. Everyone else just looks on and allow the goddesses to take over them with that warm and loving presence. Tzuyu was blessing the child, making her another priestess of their Deer Goddess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, now I'm done for realz.


End file.
